Sword Art
by TheGoodGamer99
Summary: This is a 'what if' story. What if, after the first boss raid, Asuna stayed with Kirito? Just gonna leave it at that.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, here's the first chapter in my new Sword Art Online story. I'm really excited to see how this does and I hope you guys will want to see more for this. Personally, SAO is one of my all-time favorite anime's! It's up there with Fairytale, Naruto, and even Pokémon! Anyways, enough rambling, it's time for the story!**

 **Hey, so this first chapter is basically the same as episode one of the anime. If you have watched the anime and know the story, then this isn't the chapter for you. This chapter is for the benefit of anyone who either hasn't watched the anime (which is a major mistake) or those who would like a refresher of the original story. So, if you know how the first episode goes, then feel free to skip this chapter. The real story begins next time.**

 _November 6, 2022, Kirigaya Household_

As Kazuto loaded up his file that he transferred from the beta test, he thought back to all the time he had put into getting as far as he could in the game. He had practically lived in the game, always online, always fighting monsters, always moving on. He had grown to love the game in the beta, and had been the only beta tester to make it all the way to floor 8, but now it was time to experience the real deal. As he finished setting up his character, he looked at his new name. He smiled, knowing it was just a simple mix of letters from his real name.

Kirito.

With one last glance to make sure everything was in order, he saved his character information. He then selected the file and finally dived into the world of Sword Art Online. He smiled as everything went black.

 _November 6, 2022, Main Plaza, Town of Beginnings, First Floor, Aincrad_

As he began to open his eyes, he was met by the sight of a sprawling town. From where he stood he saw numerous gardens, terraces, parks, and shops surrounding the central plaza where he now stood.

He looked down at his hands and then over to a nearby store window, and studied his reflection in the glass. His avatar was a little taller than he was, and his black hair was also longer. His angular face made him look much older than he really was, as he was still only fourteen years old.

As he watched, the area around him began filling with multiple blue flashes, which were then replaced by players as they logged in. As more people began entering the world, Kirito decided to make his leave and go see what was different from the beta test.

About an hour later, Kirito had been through the entire city, and now he was running through the streets towards the western fields, one of the best spots to farm mobs after just starting out.

As he turned into an alley he knew was a shortcut, he heard someone yell, followed by footsteps behind him. He slowed down and turned to see who it was that had hailed him.

In front of him stood a tall, red headed man wearing a red bandana that was barley darker than his hair. The man had his hands on his knees and seemed to be trying to catch his breath, which was ridiculous as running and fighting didn't take any energy in this world.

"Can I help you?" Kirito asked, not quite sure why he had been stopped.

"You seem like you know your way around here. You were in the beta test, right?" the man said, finally managing to stand up.

"Yea, so?" Kirito asked.

"Well, I'm new to these kinds of games and I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on the lower floors?" The man said, looking at Kirito hopefully.

Kirito hesitated. In the beta he had always been a solo player. He preferred to work alone and avoided parties and guilds. "I don't know…" he said.

"Oh come on man! I'm begging ya!" he said, bowing in front of Kirito with his hand together like he was praying. He then stood up and gave Kirito a grin and pointed at himself. "Look my names Klein."

"I'm Kirito." He said. _Maybe I can just show him a few things really quick. It couldn't hurt_. "Come on, I'll show you some things about fighting." He said and started walking back through the alley, now being followed by Klein.

A few hours later, Kirito and Klein were sitting on an overhang that showed a view of numerous land form that would never be seen in real life. Floating lakes, crystal spires, waterfalls that stretched for miles. All of these became even more awe inspiring in the deep orange light of sunset.

"You know, sometimes I forget that I'm actually in a virtual world. None of this is actually there." Klein said from his seat on the ground.

"Is this your first full dive?" Kirito asked from where he stood a few feet away.

"Yup. I bought all the equipment the day before the release just so I could play Sword Art Online. Stood in line all night with my friends to get one of the 10,000 hard copies." He said, and then turned to Kirito. "But you, my friend, were ten times as lucky getting to play in the beta test!"

"It's not that big a deal." Kirito said. "During the beta test, though, SAO was the only thing on my mind. I was always online and always playing. In this world, a single sword can take you anywhere. To be honest, I feel more alive here than in the real world."

They sat there for a moment, and then Kirito looked at Klein. "So, you want to do some more hunting?"

"Hell yea I do! But," Klein held his stomach. "I gotta get something to eat."

"To bad the food here only satisfies your hunger virtually."

"That's why," Klein said with a confident smirk. "I ordered a pizza for 5:30!"

"Well you sure are prepared."

"Yea and after I get back I was gonna meet up with some friends from another game. If you want, you can come and meet them." Klein proposed.

Kirito hesitated. He preferred playing solo, even though he thought it might be fun to try playing with a group. But he had never been much of a social butterfly, and he didn't feel that it was time for him to switch his style of play.

Klein saw his hesitation. "Hey, it's alright if you say no, it's not a big deal. I can just introduce you some other time."

"Yea… thanks."

"Alright, well I better go get my pizza."

"Alright, see ya." Kirito said and turned to go, only to be stopped by Kleins confused mumbling.

"Is something wrong?"

"Where's the log out button?" Klein asked, embarrassed

"It's at the bottom of the main menu." Kirito said, opening his own menu and going to where the log out option was

"It's there but it's not working."

"Huh…"

They went on a little longer trying to figure out a way to leave the game, when suddenly the air filled with the sound of bells.

"What is that?" Klein asked as they were enveloped in blue light. Suddenly, they were back in the main plaza in the Town of Beginnings.

"Someone forced a teleport?"

As they watched, more blue lights filled the plaza, until finally all 10,000 players were crammed into the space.

"What the hell?"

"What are we doing here?"

"It's probably just some kind of tutorial."

"Hey, up there!"

Everyone looked up to see a flashing red 'WARNING' symbol floating in the sky above the plaza. As they watched, the symbol began to multiply until they had created a giant red dome above the crowd.

As they continued to watch, a red liquid, which quite resembled blood, began seeping from the edges of some of the symbols. The liquid condensed into a giant red blob that hovered above the crowd before transforming into an enormous man wearing a red cloak that hid his entire body except for his gloved hands.

"Welcome, to Sword Art Online. I am Kayaba Akihiko, Head Programmer, and I now control this world."

"As many of you have probably noticed already, there is no longer a log out feature in the game. This is not a mistake, but a major feature to Sword Art Online."

A few surprised gasped left the crowd, followed by nervous chattering, which was stopped by a wave of Kayaba's hand.

"It is no longer possible to leave the game. And if anyone in the real world attempts to remove the Nerve Gear from you, the microwave transmitters in the equipment with short circuit and destroy your brain. Unfortunately, this has become the cause of the deaths of 213 players so far, so the chances of this happening are now very slim."

"The only way to leave the game is to fight your way through all one hundred floors of Castle Aincrad and beat Sword Art Online." Everyone looked around nervously. This man was asking them to beat an MMO, which had never been done before.

"Also, you should know that if your health drops below 0 in Aincrad, the Nerve Gear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

"And finally, I have a gift for all of you. If you would all open your inventories."

As Kirito entered his inventory, he immediately noticed an item that hadn't been there before. "A mirror?" he said, taking it out of his inventory. As he looked at it, he saw everyone in the crowd suddenly surrounded by blue light.

Suddenly, the mirror disappeared and he was surrounded by a different crowd.

"Kirito?" He turned to find a tall, lanky red headed man with a scruffy beard and a red bandana wrapped around his forehead…

"Klein?"

He looked down at the reflection of himself in the fountain in the center of the plaza. His jet black hair was shorter now, and he wasn't as tall with a less muscular face. Overall he looked like a younger version of his avatar. Except…

All around him, he heard sounds of surprise.

"Why do I look like me?"

"This is my face!"

"You're not a girl!"

"And you're not seventeen!"

"This is the end of the tutorial. I wish you all luck." And with that, he began to smoke and then exploded into pixels. The moment he disappeared, the symbols that had previously covered the sky vanished all at once.

Not a single person in the square made any noise. They all stood in place, trying to grasp what had happened. And then the panic started.

Kirito grabbed Klein by the arm and dragged him out of the square. He didn't stop until they had finally made it to an alley near the western gate.

"Klein, I'm heading to the next town. I want you to come with me. I know all the safe routes and short cuts, so I can get there even if I'm level one."

"… well, the thing is, I stood in line all night with my friends to buy this game. It just wouldn't be right to leave them. In fact, they're probably still back at plaza!"

"Oh…" _If it was just Klein, then we could make it. But having to watch one or two more people… I just don't know if I could get us all there safely._

"Hey, it's okay. You go on ahead, we'll be fine. I was a guild leader in the last game I played so I can take care of myself."

"Right… well I guess I'll be seeing you then. Message me if you have any questions." He said, turning away.

"Will do! Try not to die, okay?" Klein said. "And Kirito?" Klein seemed to hesitate, like he wanted to change Kirito's mind about leaving. "I think that you look much better than your avatar."

Kirito smiled at his friend. "And that scruffy face suites you ten times better!"

And with that, Kirito ran off towards the west gate.

 **Alright guys, I'm gonna end it here. I did leave some things out simply because I wanted to get this chapter out of the way, but I believe I touched all the major events and conversations. Anyways, if you haven't already, I recommend that you watch the anime. It's so good, I watched it three times! Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave me a review or pm telling me what your hopes for this story will be and any ideas you guys may have for this new series. I will try to get the next chapter out as fast as I can, but until then, take it easy guys. Peace!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Meeting

**Alright guys, here's chapter 2 for all you guys. I hope you guys enjoy the series as I continue to expand on it. Also, I forgot to say this in chapter 1, but a huge thank you to xxXCrazzyGamer55Xxx for helping me come up with the plot line for this story. Alright, let's get down to it then. It's time for the real story to begin!**

 _January 10, 2023. Oval Park, Colessia, First Floor, Aincrad_

 _It's been two months since this whole thing has started, 2,000 people are dead, and we are only now meeting to discuss the boss we can't even find?_

Kirito was leaning against a wall, watching as more players filed into the small park in Colessia, the closest town to the first floors dungeon. From just looking, one could assume that there were easily 30 warriors currently grouped together here, with a few more hanging out around the edges like himself, and still more still coming into the park.

He checked the time. 14:25. The meeting didn't start for another 35 minutes, but he had nothing better to do than wait. Usually he would be out hunting right now, but with the meeting he couldn't just leave or else he might not make it back in time.

Just as he was wondering what to do as he waited, he felt a small hand poke his arm. Kirito just sighed, not even needing to look to see who had poked him.

"What do you want, Argo?" he said, turning toward the small girl as she poked him again.

Argo was short, only coming up to Kirito's chest. She sported a ragged cloak that fell all the way down to her knees and hid almost all of her features. The only feature visible on the small fifteen-year-old was a series of lines on her face that resembled whiskers, earning her the nick name 'Argo the Rat'.

Argo had also been a beta tester, but she wasn't a fighter, though she could do pretty well if she wanted too. Argo was an info broker. She bought and sold information to make money. She spent all of her time exploring and trading information. She could tell you every quest, reward, weapon type, NPC, town, monster, and more. If you're willing to pay for it that is.

"Do I really need a reason to come see my favorite beta tester?" she said, giving Kirito a grin and another poke.

"First off, we both know you don't have a favorite anything. Second, we both know you're here because of the meeting. And third, stop poking my arm."

Argo gave him another sly grin. "Nothing gets past you, huh? Alright then. I was just wondering if you've heard anything interesting lately." She said, giving his arm another poke.

Kirito sighed. As annoying as she was, Argo's information had saved his life quite a few times in the past and was always correct. "Anything I've heard you already know, and you know that too."

"I know…"

"Point proven. Now what do you want?"

"Nothing. I came to watch the meeting and you just happen to be the closest thing I've got to a friend here."

"I see."

"So, tell me what you think this meeting is about."

"Well, the only reason to call so many warriors together would be to discuss how we will find the boss room, since everyone here seems well enough equipped to go into the dungeon."

Argo smiled. "Very good."

Kirito looked at the time again. 14:45. Had that much time really passed? "Hey, we better get going. The meeting is starting soon." He said and turned to go.

"Ah, seems your right. Well I guess I'll see you later."

"I thought you were going to the meeting?"

Argo gave him another grin. "Kirito, you know I'm not good in crowds. I'll be there, but I won't be a part of it."

Kirito shrugged. "Okay, see you later." And with that he followed the group of warriors into a sunken amphitheater. Most of the group sat near the bottom of the steps in clumps, with a few sitting higher up, solo players by the looks of them.

As Kirito took a seat near the entrance, a tall man with blue hair and armor stepped out into the middle of the amphitheater.

"Well, hello everybody, and thank you for coming." The tall man said. "My name I Diabel, and in this game, the job I rolled is knight."

At this a few members of the assembly laughed.

"What are you talking about?"

"There's no job system in this game!"

Undeterred, Diabel continued. "The reason for calling all of you here today is because the other day, me and my party found the boss room."

Upon hearing this, all laughter stopped and everyone in the audience seemed to get serious.

"Now, we all know about the 2,000 people who have died, but there are still some 6,000 odd people still alive, and I believe it is our jobs, as the strongest players to date, to go and fight this boss and to prove to everyone in here with us that this game _can_ be beaten!"

At this he got a few cheers and agreement from the crowd of fighters.

"Alright, so now here's the plan we have come up with for thi…"

"Hold up a minute!"

Everyone turned to see a man with dirty blonde hair done up in spikes standing at the top of the amphitheater. With a few leaps, he hopped down to stand by Diabel.

"My names Kibaou, and I have something I want to say. We all know about all the people who died, right? Well, some of you here need to apologize to them right now!"

Diabel took a step towards Kibaou. "You're talking about the beta testers aren't you?"

"That's right! The day this death game started, the beta tester just left us all behind while they got all the easy quests and good hunting spots! It's their faults that so many people died!"

Kirito clenched his fist. He remembered how he had taught Klein how to fight, though he didn't even know if Klein was still alive. To hear this guy bad mouthing beta testers like him just made him angry.

"If I may say something." A voice said near the front of the crowd. Everyone looked to see a man mountain with dark skin and a two handed battle axe stand up.

"My name is Agil, and I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. You're saying that 2,000 people died because the beta testers didn't stick around to help out the newer players?"

"Well… yeah… I guess…" answered Kibaou, slightly unnerved by the giant.

Agil reached into his inventory and pulled out a small book. "Do you see this book?"

"Yeah."

"Well, this here is a guide book. You can pick these up at any store for free. And you want to know who wrote it? A beta tester."

Kirito smiled. _Argo._

"Well I… but…" Kibaou stuttered, not sure how to counter this newest development.

"Alright, can we get back to the meeting guys?" Diabel asked, forcing Kibaou to take his seat.

"Alright, speaking of the guide book, the newest editions just so happen to contain information about the first boss."

"The bosses name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He has four health bars and wields a bone axe and a buckler. When the fight begins, he will spawn his minions, Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Once his last health bar drops into the red, he will switch from his axe and buckler to a large sword called a talwar."

"Now, we plan to split into groups of six so we can have teams of players accomplishing various goals at the same time. So go ahead and group up."

As Kirito watched, everyone moved into groups and created parties. Before long most everyone was in a group.

Looking around he realized that, other than himself, only one other person was still without a team. As he went over to the other person, he realized it was a girl in a long red cloak.

"So why aren't you joining anyone's group?" he asked, not sure how to start a real conversation.

"Well… everyone just seems to already be friends."

"Well then why don't we form a group? Going in alone is suicidal, so our only option is to form a party."

The hooded girl didn't say anything, she simply nodded. Kirito manipulated his menu and sent the girl a request for a party, which she accepted. As Kirito watched, a new health bar appeared below his own.

Asuna.

"Alright! Looks like everyone's grouped up. We will be moving out for the boss room tomorrow morning, so use this time to prepare and rest. Alright, everyone's dismissed."

As everyone left, Kirito decided to get something to eat. As he passed through the arch that served as the entrance for the amphitheater, he felt a poke on his arm.

"Well, I definitely didn't expect that." Argo said as she stepped out of the shadows.

"Well, that's a surprise. Aren't you supposed to know everything?" Kirito teased Argo.

Argo pouted. "Hey, it's not my fault that the 'knight' is so good at keeping secrets." She complained. Her frown transformed into a grin as she began poking Kirito again. "So what are you going to do now?"

"I was thinking of getting something to eat."

"Mind if I join you?" Argo asked with a coy smile.

"Sure, but I'm not paying for you." Kirito said and began walking off towards the main shopping district of Colessia. Argo made a pouting face and then ran to catch up to the black haired swordsman.

A few minutes later the duo was sitting by a food stall munching on sandwiches.

"Hey, Argo, I wanted to ask you something."

"Whad is if." Argo said, her mouth full of food.

"Why did you write the guide book? It's not like you to give out free information."

Argo smiled. "Apparently you haven't read it yet. All the information I put in the book was either common sense, basics, or cheap information."

"And the info on the boss?"

"Well, I can't just sit by while everyone died against a boss they knew nothing about."

"But you don't know all the bosses. If I remember correctly, you only made it up to floor six."

"Hey, just because I didn't make it as far as you did isn't any reason to tease me!" Argo said, punching his arm. "It's not my fault you're so good at this game."

"Ow." Kirito said, rubbing his arm. He was about to apologize to his friend, but then noticed a flashing yellow icon floating before him.

"Who would send me a message?" he said to himself, opening it. "Diabel?"

 _Hello! All the members of tomorrows raid group are invited to a party in the Oval Park this evening. If we are going to be fighting with each other than we should first get to know each other first. We hope you come and join us._

"What does it say?" Argo asked, unable to see the message because Kirito had his menu set to private.

"It's an invitation for a party for the raid group." Kirito answered.

"Hmm… well you had better get going. It's already late and it's gonna take you about half an hour to get back there."

"Aren't you coming?"

"Well, three little things. One, I'm not a part of the raid group. Two, I don't like parties. And three, I've got work to do."

"Oh okay. Well I guess I'll see you later then."

"Count on it. And please try not to die? I don't have many friends here." Argo said, giving him one last poke before running off into the crowd.

Kirito sighed. He needed new friends.

About forty minutes later he was standing on the outskirts of the large group that made the raid party. Everywhere there were groups chatting and laughing, and by the fountain in the middle of the park Diabel and Kibaou were having a drinking contest.

He felt out of place here. Everyone knew everyone else and had already been on adventures together, so they were all well acquainted with each other. He even noticed a few solo players mixed into the main group of fighters.

Not wanting to just stand there uncomfortably, Kirito walked around the partyers and made his way into a nearby alley way. There he found Asuna. She was sitting on a small brick wall trying to bite into a hard roll that was the cheapest food in the game.

"Those are pretty good, aren't they?" he said, alerting her to h8is presence as he sat down next to her. She squirmed a little and moved a little farther away from him. He pretended not to notice and pulled his own roll from his inventory.

"You really think this tastes good?" Asuna asked as she watched Kirito from under her large hood.

"Well, yeah, I've eaten one every day since we got here, but I've got a trick to make it taste better." He said, reaching back into his inventory. He took out a small ceramic jar and placed it on the wall between them.

Hesitantly, Asuna reached over and tapped the top of the jar. Her finger now had a glowing sphere on the end of it, which she stared at, not sure what to do with it. She was startled by the sound of breaking glass and looked over to Kirito, who's finger was also glowing. The sound she had heard was the jar despawning as Kirito took the last of its contents. He brought his finger up to his roll and dragged it down the top of it. Asuna copied his action, and was surprised when a butter like substance appeared where ever her finger touched. "Cream?"

She looked back at Kirito, who was now slowly munching on his roll. Slowly, Asuna raised the roll to her mouth and took a bite. She was silent for a minute, not moving at all. In the next instant she had eaten the entire roll in just a few large bites and let out a satisfied sigh.

"I got the cream from a quest in the second town. If you want, I can tell you how I did it."

"No, thank you. I didn't come here to eat good food."

"Then why did you come here?"

"To show that this game can't control me. I don't want to just rot away in some inn in the starting city and hope someone else will save us. I'm gonna get out of here."

"Yeah, well that's gonna be hard if you're dead, so be careful tomorrow."

And with that Kirito left for his inn room.

 **Hey guys, so I decided to cut it off here. I'm really excited to continue this story. I've got some amazing ideas coming up that I think you guys will love. If you guys want something special to happen in one of the upcoming chapters, then by all means leave me a review or a pm. I just want to thank you guys for your support. Peace!**


	3. Chapter 3: Beater

**Hey guys, I'm back again with another chapter for you all. Thanks for the crazy support on this story. After only being up for a few hours this story managed to get 17 followers! That literally made my day. I hope you guys continue to like and support this story as well as my other story. Anyways, it's story time!**

 _January 11, 2023. Forest Path, Colessia Outskirts, First Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito and Asuna walked together behind the main body of the raid group. The force had left Colessia that morning and had been slowly making its way to the dungeon, stopping once or twice to deal with monsters that guarded the path that wound through the forest that surrounded the dungeon like a moat surrounding a fortress. Most of the monsters avoided them because their group was so large, but that didn't stop them from following, hoping to get a chance to defeat a player in battle.

"Alright, let's go over the plan," Kirito said, making sure Asuna was paying attention to him. "Our job to attack the boss's minions, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. We'll be able to deal with them best if one of us blocks their attacks and then the other switch's in to attack."

"Switch?"

Kirito stopped and turned to Asuna. "Be honest with me. Is this the first time you've fought in a party?" Asuna nodded. Kirito sighed. _This is gonna be a long walk._

 _January 11, 2023. First Floor Dungeon, Level 10, First Floor, Aincrad._

Diabel stood in front of the massive obsidian doors that opened into the boss room, facing the group of warriors that were all waiting to hear what he would say.

"Alright everyone, this is it. The boss is right through this door. You all remember the plan?" Nods from everyone in the attack force. "Alright, then let's do this, and show everyone that we will beat this game!"

The group roared in approval as Diabel turned towards the doors and, with a mighty shove, pushed them wide open.

Everyone rushed into the room at once, and soon they all stood together in the dark room.

"Where is it?" one guy said.

Suddenly, the entire room lit up, but there were no sources of light. From what they could see, the blueish glow seemed to originate from the walls and ceiling, which were now a blueish color with swirls of other various colors flowing through it.

They all stood in what looked like a throne room. The room was three stories high and seemed to be about half a mile long, with pillars lining a path of stone bricks that lead to a giant gray throne. Upon the throne was the boss. As they watched, he stood and leaped high into the air, landing right in front of the raid group.

'Illfang the Kobold Lord' appeared along with four health bars above his head. He stood about four meters tall and had a massive stomach. His blood red skin was covered with what looked like random pieces of samurai armor. As they watched, Illfang pulled an axe made of bone and a large buckler shield out of nowhere and roared. Directly in front of it, three pillars of blue-white light appeared and were then replaced by three kobolds in heavy armor that wielded giant war hammers.

"Alright, commence the attack!" Diabel bellowed as the raid party split into groups and began trying to surround the boss. Kirito and Asuna ran straight for the one of the three Ruin Kobold Sentinels while another group charged the other two. They fought for what seemed like hours, with each kobold they slew, another appeared to take its place. Behind them, Kirito could hear the sounds of battle as the raid group slowly depleted the boss's health bar. Off to his left he heard Diabel issuing orders from his vantage point near a fallen pillar.

As Kirito watched another sentinel disappear with the sound of breaking glass, he turned as he heard a horrible roar from Illfang. The raid group was quickly putting distance between themselves and the red skinned monster they were fighting. Kirito looked above his head and saw that the fourth health bar was finally in the red. As he watched, he noticed Diabel running towards the boss.

"I'll take it from here!"

 _But I thought the plan was to finish him off all at once while we had him surrounded._

Diabel stopped a few meters in front of the boss as his sword was enveloped in a golden light as he prepared a sword skill to finish off the boss.

And then Illfang drew his new weapon. But it wasn't a talwar. It was a Nodachi.

 _Oh shit!_

"Diabel stop!" Kirito shouted as he began to run towards the raid leader.

Ignoring him, Diabel charged at the boss, which nimbly leaped into the air and began jumping from pillar to pillar so fast that no one in the group was able to follow him. Suddenly, with a final leap, Illfang landed right in front of Diabel, the shockwave throwing the young man up in the air. Before the knight could react, the boss slammed his giant sword into Diabels chest, sending him flying.

"Diabel!"

A few people began to run towards their leader, but were forced to stop as Illfang jumped into the middle of the group and forced them to defend themselves from his barrage of attacks.

Kirito ran to where Diabel had landed and knelt beside the young warrior.

"What were you thinking?" he said, pulling a red potion out of his inventory and trying to get Diabel to drink it. Diabel reached up and stopped Kirito's hand, giving him a sad look.

"You know why… You were in the beta test too, weren't you?"

Suddenly it clicked for Kirito. "You were after the final attack bonus. The rare item."

Diabel nodded, his health slowly draining as the damage from being flung across the room slowly caught up with him.

"Kirito… promise me… that you'll destroy this world… that you'll… get them out…" Diabel said, tightening his grip on Kirito's hand. "Promise me…" and with that Diabel shattered into dozens of blue crystal shards that slowly faded from view as Kirito continued to stare at the spot where the young warrior had laid moments ago.

 _He's dead…_

He must have sat there for longer than he thought, because the next thing he knew there was a hand on his shoulder and Asuna was standing next to him. "Come on, we still have to beat the boss."

Kirito pushed himself up and turned towards where the rest of the raid group was holding off the giant monster. It looked like so far no one else had died, but Illfangs health had barely dropped since he had last looked. Seeing the beast that had killed Diabel slashing and hacking at more players filled Kirito with rage as he once again drew his sword.

"Here's the plan," he said to Asuna. "We'll handle him just like we did the minions. One of us blocks his attack and the other switches in to attack."

Asuna gave him a confident nod and then bolted towards the boss alongside Kirito. The group saw them coming and parted to let them through. Once Illfang saw the duo and swung his Nodachi at them, Kirito stepped out in front of Asuna and parried the blow with his sword.

"Switch!"

Asuna darted forward and prepared to attack the boss. Suddenly, Illfang tensed up and began to bring his sword forward in a stab.

"Asuna!"

Just in time, Asuna managed to twist and barely dodging the blade. However, as she dodged, her red cloak was hit by the attack, shattering it into shards of crystal, revealing a stunning girl wearing white clothing with long auburn hair. Undeterred, Asuna continued her attack, landing dozens of hits as she thrust her sword faster than the human eye could see.

"Switch!"

Kirito jumped in front again and blocked once more, before switching back out to let Asuna attack again. As she jumped back to Kirito's side, he turned to her, a fierce determination in his eyes. "Together this time." She nodded and prepared for another attack. As one, they dashed forward.

Kirito pulled ahead and blocked another attack from the boss. As he did this he felt a large force hit him in the side. The boss had brought around his giant fist and hit Kirito as he blocked.

Kirito was sent flying back into Asuna, and both went sprawling. Looking back at the boss, they saw him leap high into the air, sword raised as it hurtled towards them. _So this is it_ , Kirito thought as he watched the blade. Suddenly a shadow appeared above him, followed by a grunt and the sound of metal hitting metal.

"We'll hold him off until your ready to fight again." Agil said as he pushed the boss away. He charged at the boss, followed by his party.

"Hey! Quick, drink this!" Asuna said as she raised a potion to his lips. As he felt his strength returning, he saw Illfang swipe at Agil's group and send them sprawling. He then watched as the boss once again attempted the same attack Agil had saved them from.

Kirito was on his feet in an instant as he ran to intercept the attack. He managed to barely block the attack and forced the boss back once more as Asuna rejoined him.

"Here we go!" Kirito said, raising his sword above his head as it began to glow with a bright blue light. He deftly brought it down, leaving a glowing red line down the front of the boss's gut, and then followed by leaping up, his sword still stuck into Illfangs body. As he rose, the sword followed until it finally exited the boss's body through the top of his head.

Illfang froze. Everyone watched in awe as the final health bar dropped to zero, and Illfang the Kobold Lord shattered into hundreds of crystal shards, which were replaced by a large message the read 'Congratulations!'.

Everyone cheered as windows appeared before everyone, informing them of the experience and items they had gotten from the fight. Without anyone seeing Kirito shut a second window that had appeared before him. _The last attack bonus…_

"We did it!"

"Hell yeah!"

"We won!"

"Good job." Agil said, reaching down to pull Kirito to his feet.

"Thanks for saving us back there."

"Don't mention it."

"Just shut up!"

Everyone turned to see who had shouted, and all eyes landed on Kibaou, sitting on the floor with a pained look on his face.

"Why… Why did you let him die?"

"What are you…"

"You knew what attack pattern the boss was gonna use!" Kibaou said, pointing an accusing finger at Kirito.

"You know what, I'll bet he was a beta tester!" one of Kibaou's party member exclaimed.

"Now wait just a minute…" Agil said, stepping forward.

Kirito began to think as the argument continued. _I can't allow Kibaou to rave on the beta testers, but nothing I do will make him stop. What can I do to put an end to it…?_

Kirito smiled. _It's worth a shot._

Everyone went silent as they turned to Kirito, who had begun laughing. Even Kibaou seemed surprised as Kirito stood up from where he had been crouching.

"Beta testers, huh? Don't compare me to those noobs." He said, slowly turning towards the crowd behind him.

"Wha… what the…?" Kibaou stuttered.

"Most of the beta testers were as green as grass when they started playing. Even some of you are better than they were." Kirito said, slowly making his way to the center of the group.

"So don't compare me to them. During the beta test, I made it to higher floors than every other beta tester. I recognized the boss's attack pattern because I've fought monsters on higher floors with more advanced attack patterns."

"Your worse than a beta tester… you're a god damn cheater!"

"A beta tester and a cheater?"

"He's a Beater!"

Kirito forced a smile. "A Beater, huh? Good, just don't mix me up with those beta testers again." He said, going into his inventory and equipping the item he had gotten from the last attack bonus, the Cloak of Midnight.

Feeling he had done enough, he began making his way towards the doors that had appeared to take them to the second floor. As he mounted the steps he heard foot falls behind him.

"Wait."

He stopped as Asuna stared at him.

"During the battle you said my name."

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude. Did I mispronounce it?"

"How did you know it?"

Kirito smiled and half turned towards her. "Under your health bar there should be a second hp gauge."

Asuna glanced up at her health and saw that he was right, there was a second health bar and a name.

"Ki-ri-to. Kirito. That's your name?"

Kirito didn't answer as he manipulated his menu and dissolved their party. As she watched, his health bar disappeared from her view.

Kirito turned back towards the door and pushed them open. Just as he was about to step through, a window appeared in front of him, catching him by surprise.

 _Asuna wants you to join her party._

He slowly turned around to face Asuna, who now stood at the top of the steps a few feet in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"You may have fooled everyone else down there, but I saw how you reacted when Diabel died. You're not the evil person you made them think you are, and I won't let you go out there to face their hate by yourself. Even if you say no, there is nothing to stop me from following you." Asuna said, staring at him with an unwavering stare.

For a while, neither of them moved. Then Kirito sighed and hit accept. Asuna smiled and walked up to him.

"Come on, we have a floor to explore."

 **And there we have it. Man, I really enjoyed writing that. Well, the story has begun, so now all that's left is to see how things turn out! Any ways thank you all for reading and supporting me and my stories. If anyone has an idea or suggestion or anything, please leave a review or pm me. I love hearing from you guys so don't be shy, I promise I won't bite most of you. Anyways guys, I'll see you all next time. Peace!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Beginning of Hardship

**Hey guys, I'm back with the fourth chapter in this series. I hope you guys are really enjoying this story. I'm gonna be taking a little break from writing these chapters so I can work on my other story, so I have no idea when I'll be uploading the next chapter. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

 _January 11, 2023. Western Hills, Second Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito blinked, blinded momentarily by the bright sunlight. He and Asuna had just reached the top of the steps leading to the second floor.

The second floor looked much like the first had, with large rolling plain and hills, roads crisscrossing the countryside, but without the massive forests that had been on the first floor. Far off to the south, like a sole watchtower, stood the dungeon, the gray pillar stretching up until it met the bottom of the floor above. Dotting the plains below were numerous cattle, sheep, and numerous types of monsters.

Looking at the valley below them, Kirito spotted the first town on a hill on the opposite side of the monster filled bowl.

Kirito turned to Asuna. "Do you want to try fighting our way through, or go around?"

Asuna quickly glanced down into the valley, as if estimating their chances of survival. "I think going around would be better, seeing as we just fought a boss."

"Good call." Kirito said, suddenly realizing that they were indeed dangerously close to having no supplies left.

"Besides, I wanted to have a talk with you." She said, already starting to walk along a path that curved around the valley below.

"About what, exactly?"

"Well, you can start by explaining why you made them hate you. We both know that by the time we get to the town everyone will have heard about Kirito the Beater."

"Well… I just hated the way Kibaou was always trying to blame the beta testers for stuff. Eventually, he would have convinced more people that the beta testers were evil, and I couldn't let that go. So, instead of hating the beta testers, I gave them something else to hate. Me."

Asuna was silent as they continued to walk the path _. He took on all that hate so that 1,000 people wouldn't have to_. She turned to say something to him, but as she turned, she saw something in the corner of her vision coming up behind Kirito. In an instant, her sword was drawn and pressed against the throat of the hooded figure behind them.

"Jesus! Mercy, mercy!"

Kirito sighed. "It's fine Asuna." Asuna sheathed her blade. "Argo, what are you doing here."

"What? After the fight I decided to get a head start on the second floor instead of waiting for the warp gate. I just happened to run into you and your friend." Argo said, holding her hand against her neck. "Also, K, when did you get friends?"

"Don't call me K." Kirito said, annoyance creeping into his voice.

"Whatever you say, K." Argo said, poking him in the arm.

Asuna turned towards him, a confused look on her face. "Kirito, who is this?"

"Asuna, this is Argo the Rat, the world's greatest info broker and writer of the guide book. Argo, this is Asuna."

Asuna's eyes widened. "You wrote the guide book?"

Argo gave a proud smile and puffed out her chest. "Yup. Wrote down all the basics and knowledge needed to survive the first floor and get used to the game."

"If you ever want to know something, all you do is ask Argo, as her information is 100% correct… well 99% correct."

Argo glared at Kirito. "Hey, how was I supposed to know they switched out Illfang's Talwar for a Nodachi? It's not like I could battle him myself to check."

"No, but it's not like you to not double check information, even if it is on a boss."

"You should be grateful I even put that information in the guide book to begin with!"

Kirito held up his hands in a sign of defeat. "Okay, okay, calm down. Listen, it's good to see you but did you need something or not, because we have to get to the town over there."

"You always say that! No matter where we meet, you always think that I want something! Is it wrong to want to see a friend every now and then? Do I have to have a reason to drop by and see how you're doing?"

"Calm down Argo, there's no reason to make such a big fuss over it. I was simply asking a question."

"Well, in answer to your question, no I didn't need anything from you, though it does seem like you have nothing to give. I saw the whole boss battle and what happened afterwards, so there's nothing I need to ask you."

"Okay then, we're gonna head to the next town and activate the teleport gate." Kirito said, turning to leave. Asuna glanced back one more time at Argo and then turned to follow him.

"Kirito." Argo said.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks… for taking the blame."

Kirito gave her a sad smile. "It's my pleasure."

Argo smirked. "Somehow I doubt that." And with that Argo the Rat was gone, rushing off to see if her information on the second floor was still the same as the beta test.

"Well she was…" Asuna said, pausing to look for the right word.

"Annoying? Eccentric? Unbearable?"

"Kirito! I thought she was your friend."

"I'm a Beater now, I can't have friends."

"Than what am I?"

"My partner in crime."

They continued on making small talk like this as they continued on their way to the first town. Once they were through the gate of the town, which was called Namma, they noticed various NPC's trying to call out to them and begging them to buy their wares. One even walked up to Kirito and grabbed his arm, refusing to let go until he bought a small water pouch the man was trying to sell. This continued until they finally reached the center plaza and approached the teleport gate, a simple metal ring that poked out of a raised platform.

As Kirito approached it a message appeared before him asking if he would like to unlock the gate.

"Hey, once I unlock it I wanna get out of here quick, okay? I don't want to have a mob after us now that Kibaou has had time to spread lies."

"Got it."

"Okay, here we go." And with that, Kirito touched a button on the screen before him and the teleport gate began to glow.

"Alright, let's go." Kirito said, walking away from the now glowing ring. "Right." Asuna replied, turning to follow her partner. "So what do we do…"

"Hold it right there!"

Kirito stopped and let out a large sigh. "Figures you would be the first to come through." He said turning to face Kibaou. Kibaou gave him a smug grin as more players appeared behind him. While most left to go explore the town, a small group stayed behind Kibaou, obviously his supporters.

"What do you want? We're kind of busy here."

"I want you to pay for Diabel's death! It's your fault he died! All you had to do is tell us about the boss's attack and Diabel would be alive right now!" Kibaou shouted, angrily walking towards the duo.

"We were all there and we all saw the same thing. Diabel ignored the original plan and rushed the boss by himself, which was stupid, even if it was almost dead." Asuna said, glaring at Kibaou.

Kibaou's eyes narrowed, scrutinizing Asuna. "Why are you on his side? He's a beta tester! He admitted to cheating! He could have saved Diabel, but he didn't! So how can you just follow him around like some sort of puppy?"

"Kibaou, leave her alone." Kirito said, stepping in front of Asuna. "We all know it was Diabel's fault that Illfang…"

"Shut up!" Kibaou roared, drawing his mace and pointing it at Kirito. "Your gonna pay, Beater." And with that he charged Kirito.

Kirito sighed and held up his hand towards the incoming attack. Suddenly, right before the mace struck, it bounced off an invisible barrier, causing a purple message to appear were the weapon had hit. Kibaou stumbled back, stunned

"H… H… How?"

"You can't hurt me, no matter how much you try. It's impossible for players to lose health or die in a safe zone."

Kibaou's face went bright red from rage as he glared at Kirito's bored expression. Then he charged again, hitting the hand with a similar effect.

"Damn you, you filthy Beater!"

"Now if you'll excuse us, we have things to do." And with that, Kirito walked away, Asuna following close behind. As they left the plaza, they could hear Kibaou releasing a slew of words that would make any sailor flinch.

Once they were out of sight, Kirito fell to the ground, his back against the wall. Asuna looked at his pained expression in surprise. "I thought you couldn't take damage in a safe zone!"

"You can't, but that doesn't mean I didn't feel his attack. He couldn't kill me, but if he wanted to he could beat the hell out of me and I wouldn't die no matter what he did."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. No need to worry." Kirito said, pushing himself to his feet. "Let's head to the inn before it fills up."

"R… Right." Asuna said, still wearing a worried expression.

And with that the duo left to search for a room to sleep.

 **Alright guys, thanks so much for reading my story. I want to thank everyone who has left a review or pm for me so far. It's because of you guys that I do this, so if you guys want something special to happen in this story than please, please, please leave a review or pm me. I make it a point to answer every single pm so don't be shy. Anyways guys, you all rock, and I'll see you next time. Peace!**


	5. Chapter 5: Asuna's Side Adventure

**Hey everybody, I'm back with more Sword Art. This chapter is gonna focus more on Asuna for once. I'm thinking of doing chapters like this one every now and again, using a different characters POV. Anyways, let's move on. It's story time!**

 _February 20, 2023. Amber Mine, Fourth Floor, Aincrad_.

Kirito jumped, narrowly avoiding the giant blade that sliced through the air where he had just stood. He landed several meters away from the monster, a humanoid… something. It was completely encased in dark steel armor that covered every inch of skin, so that Kirito couldn't tell if it was human or not. It was about as tall as a man, but the noises that floated out from within the helmet were enough to make him think it was a monster. Whatever it was, it was strong, being able to wield that giant ten-foot blade like it weighed no more than a knife.

As Kirito watched, his opponent began approaching him, it's giant broad sword ready to attack. _Come on, it has to have a weak spot somewhere! I just need to find it!_ Kirito carefully ran his eyes over the dark plate mail that covered his enemy. It was of flawless craftsmanship, and seemed like it weighed hundreds of pounds, though the monster moved around like it was made of paper. It slowly walked towards Kirito, who had backed into a corner, taking its time before landing the killing blow that would take the young player to the next life. Kirito tensed up as the enemy stopped just five feet in front of him. At this range, with that giant sword, even Kirito wouldn't be able to dodge. _Damn. Okay, only one thing I can do_. Kirito slowly drew his sword, raising it in a defensive stance, preparing to block the attack that he knew was coming.

The armored opponent raised his sword, ready to bring it down and end Kirito's life. As Kirito prepared to try to defend himself, though he knew it would be futile, the monster froze. It began to shake, and dropped its sword with a massive thud as it hit the ground to his side. The armored warrior continued to shake and let out a strangled moan that sounded like a garbage disposal trying to break bone. After a surprisingly long time, the monster finally shattered, the crystal shards that came from its body slowly disappearing as all traces of the monster disappeared. There, standing with her sword extended into the air where the monster had been, was Asuna.

"Wow, Kirito. I would never think that you would get beaten by a monster on the fourth floor." She said, extending her hand to help him to his feet.

"Well it wouldn't have happened if someone had just gone along with the plan." He answered, taking her hand and rising to his feet.

"Well, I'm sorry, but that plan was doomed to fail and you know it. It wasn't going to ever work." Asuna said, turning toward the entrance to the tunnel they had come from.

"Yea, well that doesn't mean you leave me to fight a high level monster by myself!"

"How else was I going to find his weak spot?" Asuna said, giving him an innocent face that worked on most guys. Not Kirito. At least, not anymore.

"You can't just do that without warning! I almost died when I tried to switch with you and you weren't there!"

"Well… Well…" Asuna said, not wanting to back down to Kirito. She searched in vain for a good reason to give him, until she eventually gave up. "Fine. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I honestly didn't think that the monster would be that strong." 

"No kidding." Kirito said as they reached the entrance to the mine they had delved into.

It had been about a month since they had cleared the first floor. Since then the fighters on the front line had become increasingly active as they began rapidly taking on the bosses. Kirito and Asuna had joined in their raids on the boss rooms, though that was all the interaction they ever had with the 'Frontliners', as they had come to be called. By this time, there were only a handful of people who hadn't heard about the legendary Beater, and almost everyone had grown to hate him. At first, it had bothered Kirito, but eventually he got used to it. Since that day they had managed to beat both the second and third floors and, from what he had been hearing around town, they were getting close to finding the fourth boss room.

As they stepped out onto the beach where the mine entrance was located, Asuna turned to Kirito. "So, are you going to tell me what this quest reward we're getting is going to be?"

Kirito gave her a smug grin. "Sorry little lady, no spoilers."

Asuna pouted. "Come on, tell me. I swear if it's not worth the trouble you put us through, then you're a dead man." Kirito laughed. It was true that this quest was suspiciously difficult, but if the reward was for real, then it would definitely be worth it.

Kirito smiled at his companion. "Come on, when have I ever lead you astray?"

Asuna turned to him and gave him a piercing look. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"No." He admitted.

 _February 20, 2023. Piel, Fourth Floor, Aincrad_.

As Asuna and Kirito entered the Fourth Floors main town of Piel, the sun began to set and many of the players were just returning from their day of hunting. Their trip back to the large town had been uneventful, as they were so over leveled that most all the monsters that were found on the Fourth Floors grassy plains and beautiful beaches went out of their way to avoid them.

Kirito looked at the time in the menu. "Hey, Asuna. It's getting pretty late. Why don't you go get us a room at the inn while I go turn in this quest?"

Asuna checked the time herself. 21:12. "Sure. Don't get lost on the way, okay? And no window shopping!"

"Yes mom." This caused Asuna to smile. She watched as Kirito left in the direction of the quest NPC he had found this morning. _Wow, he really doesn't want me to know what the reward is_. Asuna smiled and began walking towards the inn. _Well, I hope it's something useful. After all the crap we had to go through to get it. What kind of reward would you get from a collect/slaughter type quest? Weapons? Armor? Clothes? Food?_

Asuna continued on with her thoughts as she approached the inn. As she walked down the road that the inn was on, she spotted some shady looking men farther down the road. Carefully, as to not draw attention, she slipped into an alley. Once she was hidden from view, she pulled up the hood on the brown cloak she kept with her. She sighed. _It really is a curse to be pretty_.

When she was ready, she slipped out of the alley into a passing group of players. As they approached the trio of men that she had spotted earlier, they backed away, obviously nervous about the group. Once they were past, the men seemed to relax and moved back to their previous positions. _How suspicious can you get?_

Asuna broke off of the group she was hiding in and stood a little way away from the three men, being very careful so as to not be seen. _These guys are up to something and I'm gonna figure out what it is_.

Asuna stood there, watching the men for what seemed like forever. Every time a group passed them, they would shrink back and wait for the group to pass before coming back out into the open. _Come on already! I can't stay here forever, sooner or later Kirito's gonna come looking for me when he finds out I'm not at the inn. What are you guys doing anyways?_

As she continued watching them, she began checking the time. 22:04. Damn, I had better get going. _Oh well, I guess they weren't up to anything after all_. As she turned to leave, she glanced back at the group of men and stopped. While she had been checking the time, the men had approached a girl that had been walking by herself down the road. The girl was short, with a cute face outlined by short brown hair and a splay of freckles across her nose. She wore basic medium armor, basically glorified leather for all the good it did in battle, and at her side hung a small mace and what seemed to be a hammer. The men maneuvered themselves so that the girl now stood in the center of the three of them. They seemed to be starting a conversation with the girl, though Asuna was too far away to hear what was going on. She saw one of the men gesture over to an alley near where they had stood for the past hour. The girl nodded, apparently excited about something.

As they approached the spot where the men had been hanging out, none of them noticed Asuna inconspicuously moving closer to the group. As the men lead the girl into the alley way, Asuna sped up until she was right at the entrance of the alley. She quickly began to chase after the group. Until she heard the sound of voices.

"Why are we going all the way back here? I can just look at it anywhere." The girl was saying.

"Well, you see, we had to hide it back here because all of our inventories are full from hunting all day, and we didn't want to leave something like that just out in the open." One of the men answered. _What the hell are they talking about?_

Asuna stopped as she neared a turn in the alley. She slowly poked her head out from behind the wall and then immediately jerked it back. _Oh god, they're right there!_

"Man, this took longer than it should have." One of the men said to his friend.

"Yeah, and I can't believe she actually fell for that 'Rare Item' crap we gave her! Honestly, how dumb can you get?"

 _So they are up to something! Well, I'm not gonna let them do it!_

"Come on, we should catch up. Wouldn't want to miss out on the fun."

"Yeah, let's go."

As the two men began walking away, Asuna slowly crept out into alley and continued following them until she saw that the three men and the girl had stopped in front of an entrance to another alley, except this one was a dead end.

"Did you hide it in here?" the girl asked, taking a few steps forward. One of the men smiled and shoved the girl from behind, sending her to the ground. "Ow! Why did you do that?"

"Shut up."

The girl looked surprised. "Wha… What's going on here? Where's the super rare sword you wanted to show me?" The men began laughing. "Just how stupid are you?" One man stepped forward as the girl clumsily moved away from him. She couldn't run because the men had blocked the only exit from the alley and she knew that she couldn't overpower them. The man who had stepped forward gave the girl an evil grin. "I've got your sword right here, sweetheart."

 _That's enough of that!_

Suddenly the man whirled around as his companions crumpled to the ground. His eyes widened as he watched a brown cloaked figure holding a sword approach him. "H…Hold on. It's not what it looks like! We were just…" The man's words were cut short as the cloaked figure rammed the hilt of her sword into his gut. The man fell onto his hands and knees. "Wait! This is a misunderstanding! We were simply…" the man's words were once again halted as the figure kicked him, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Please… stop…" the man whimpered, bringing his arms up to protect his head. The figure stood over him and, with slow, deliberate movements, pointed her long, thin sword towards the entrance of the alley. The man shakily got to his feet and stumbled over to his friends. Supporting both of them on his shoulders, the trio began to quickly limp away.

"You'll regret this, bitch!"

Asuna smiled. _Well that should teach them not to go around doing that crap_. She turned to face the girl behind her. It was only once she was certain that the men were gone that she finally lowered her hood. "Are you okay?" The girl nodded. The girl shakily got to her feet and brushed her skirt off. "Th… Thank you for helping me. If you hadn't had stopped them…"

"Forget about it. Come on let's go. I'm Asuna."

"I'm Lisbeth." The girl said, following Asuna through the complex maze of alleys that the men had led them through.

"So Lisbeth, can I ask you something?" Lisbeth nodded. "Why were you so excited to see a rare sword?"

Lisbeth smiled and took the hammer from her belt and held it up. "I'm a blacksmith, and if I got to work on a rare weapon, I could raise my skill level by a ton."

"Oh, yeah that makes sense. So you followed them because they promised to let you work on a rare sword?"

"Yeah. It was really stupid, now that I think about it."

"Not really. I mean, if I had been in your shoes I would have done the same thing" Asuna said as they finally emerged back onto the main road. Asuna looked down the road at the inn and immediately paled. "Crap! I was supposed to meet someone at the inn! Sorry Lisbeth but I have to go. Stay safe!" and with that Asuna sped off. As she approached the door to the inn, a message appeared in her field of view. Lisbeth would like to add you as a friend. Asuna smiled and hit accept as she opened the door and entered the inn.

Asuna walked up to the inn keeper. "Excuse me, sir."

"How can I help you, miss?"

"Did a boy dressed in black come in here?"

The NPC seemed to go into his thoughts for a minute, before turning back to her. "Sorry ma'am, can't say I've seen him."

Asuna smiled. It was just like him to be late. "In that case, I would like a room please."

"Certainly."

Asuna paid the man and proceeded up the stairs and to the room she had paid for. It looked exactly like every other inn room in the game. It was a small room with sparse furniture that included a bed, table and chair, and a nightstand. In the back of the room was a door that led to the bathroom, even though players didn't ever need to use the bathroom. Asuna sat on the bed and quickly changed out of her travel cloths and donned the clothing she typically wore when she went to bed. She then laid down on the bed and began the wait for Kirito.

Down stairs, Kirito had just walked into the inn and was approaching the inn keeper NPC. "How can I help you, young man."

"Did a pretty girl in a brown cloak come in here?"

"Why yes, she walked in not even fifteen minutes ago."

"What room is she in?"

Kirito thanked the NPC and then made his way upstairs to the room Asuna had purchased. He knocked on the door and waited as Asuna opened it.

"It's about time! What on earth could take so long to turn in a quest?"

"Sorry," Kirito said sheepishly. "The NPC decided to get REALLY chatty."

"Oh, forget it. Come on, what was the reward you've been hiding from me?"

Kirito smiled and reached for his pocket. "Okay, but you have to hold out your hand."

"Fine." Asuna extended her hand out in front of her, palm upwards.

"Okay, ready?"

"Come on already! You've been hiding this from me all day, just show me what it is!"

"Okay."

Asuna's eyes went wide as Kirito grabbed her hand and held it up. "What are you…" Her words stopped in her throat as she watched Kirito take his hand out of his pocket and put a ring on her finger. Asuna stood there for a minute, trying to figure out what was going on. The ring was a beautiful shade of jade with an intricate wind design etched into it. It fit her finger beautifully, almost as if it had been made specifically for her.

"Well, what do you think?"

Asuna looked at Kirito, then back down at the ring, then back to Kirito. _He just put a ring on my finger, but why would he do that? What is his reason for…_ Asuna could feel her face begin to heat up as a thought crossed her mind.

"Kirito… why did you just put a ring on my finger?"

"It's a very special ring!" Kirito said, oblivious to her growing blush.

 _It's special? He couldn't mean…_ Asuna felt her face heat up even more as she stared at the beautiful ring on her finger.

"Special? How?"

Kirito smiled a sly smile. "It's a rare ring that raises stats. As long as you're wearing that, your speed increases by ten points."

Asuna just stared at him for a minute, then once more at the ring. "I see." She said, finally calming down. _So he wasn't…_ "Well that's very cool but I don't see why you would go through all of that trouble to raise your stats."

"I didn't do it for me."

"What?" Asuna said, surprised.

Kirito smiled. "I put the ring on your finger, didn't I?"

Asuna looked back down at the ring. "Why would you go through all that to get a stat ring for me?"

"As a thank you. You're the only one who actually doesn't hate my very existence."

"And who's fault is that?"

Kirito held up his hands in a form of surrender. "So, anyways, the ring is for you."

Asuna smiled and surprised Kirito by tackling him with a tight hug.

"Thanks."

 **Alright, I have to ask. How many of you thought Kirito was doing something romantic? Be honest with me. Anyways, thank you guys so much for the crazy amount of support I've been getting on this story! I never expected this story to do so well, and it's all thanks to you guys. Please leave me a review or a pm, I absolutely love hearing from you guys and I go out of my way to answer all pm's so don't be shy. Anyways, I can't say this enough, but thanks again to you all. I hope I'll see you all next time. Peace!**


	6. Chapter 6:

**Hey guys, so I'm finally back after my summer long absence. I'm sorry for the wait but I was having computer troubles and it took forever to fix, but it's all good now so I should be back to my usual random uploading schedule. Anyways I wanna thank everyone for their support on my stories and I just wanna remind you all that if you have any criticism, ideas, or just wanna talk, then please either leave a review on the story or just pm me directly, as I make it a point to answer each and every pm. Anyways, thanks again guys, and now let's get to the story!**

 _May 8, 2023, Peral, Ninth Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito sighed as he tiredly walked into the inn where he and Asuna had been staying for the past few weeks. He plopped down on one of the comfortable benches that filled the first floor of the inn. _I'm getting really tired of farming these monsters. And it doesn't help that Asuna had to go do that 'special quest' thing today._ Kirito sighed. _Well it could be worse. I could have run into_ him _again._ Kirito scowled as he remembered the run in he and Asuna had a few weeks ago.

 _April 25, 2023, Kowdand, Seventh Floor, Aincrad._

"Are you sure this is where the quest wants us to go? It seems kind of… weird." Kirito and Asuna stood in front of a huge white building in the middle of Kowdand, the Seventh Floors largest city. The streets were lined with identical white houses, along with various shops. The area on either side of the road were lined with a wide assortment of flower gardens. The building in front of them was by far the busiest one on the street, with dozens of people and NPC's swarming around it. It was basically a bustling modern city at first glance.

Asuna turned to Kirito, an annoyed expression on her face. "Of course it is! Why would you even think that?"

Kirito glanced back at the building before turning back to Asuna. "Well I really don't think the largest and busiest bank in Aincrad can be described as 'imposing and threatening'."

Asuna turned back to the building and began walking towards it. "Come on, I'll show you that I'm right." Kirito watched as his companion continued to walk away, then shrugged and began walking after her.

By the time Kirito had reached the crowd he had already lost sight of Asuna, but he knew which way she was going so he just had to hope that she would wait for him when she got to the entrance. As Kirito began pushing his way through the bustling crowd, he heard a commotion start up to his left. _Wonder what's going on_. He thought as he glanced in the direction where the crowd had surrounded a group of figures. Suddenly, Kirito stopped.

Standing in the middle of the circle was Asuna.

And she was surrounded by six men with swords.

A man walked out of the crowd and stood between two of the armed men. Though he had changed his armor and weapon, Kirito instantly recognized the man. Kibaou. The beta hater.

"Well, look at who we have here. You've gotta lot of nerve showing your face in public, Beater's Pet."

Asuna gave the spiky haired man a look that would have scared off Illfang, but Kibaou ignored it and just began circling her.

"So, mind telling us what you're doing here? And where's your friend the Beater? Is he here?"

Asuna tensed up and looked at Kibaou, not saying a word, slowly inching her hand towards her sword. A small smirk appeared on Kibaou's face.

"Doesn't really matter. Whether you were a beta tester or not, you became a criminal the moment you joined up with that Beater." Suddenly, Kibaou's eyes lit up like a kid who sees a Christmas tree for the first time. "Well, hey now, that a really nice ring you've got there. Now, how about a deal? You give me the ring and we might consider letting you go."

"Like I would ever give anything to you."

Kibaou's smirk instantly changed to a look of hatred as he lunged forward and grabbed Asuna's sword arm, his other hand reaching for the ring on her finger. Just as his fingers were about to brush the light metal, he froze, feeling a sword touch his exposed neck.

"Hands off."

The six men jumped back, not knowing how Kirito had managed to slip by them. Kibaou smiled. "So you were here Beater. Well, now that we've come this far, I think we both know how this ends."

"Yeah, it ends with me and my friend walking out of here and completing our quest."

Kibaou let out a chuckle. "Come on, you really expect me to believe you can beat seven fighters from the frontlines?"

Kirito stayed silent, his sword still pressed against Kibaou's neck.

"Oh yeah, one more thing." Kibaou said as he used his pointer finger to move Kirito's blade away from his neck. "I figured out the trick to the towns 'safety' system. We may not be able to harm you, but we can still beat you down pretty well."

Kirito said nothing as he kept his sword pointed at Kibaou. The beta hater sighed. "You know, this 'silent treatment' thing you two are doing is getting really old. There's no way you guys can get out of here with this many people around, so just give up alre… urk!" Kibaou's sentence was cut short as Kirito thrust his sword at his head, an invisible barrier stopping the blade millimeters from his face, sending Kibaou flying head over heels into the crowd. Asuna, now free of Kibaou's grip, was thrown off balance and fell to the ground as Kirito turned to take on the swordsman that were now approaching him.

He deftly blocked a swing from one with his sword, at the same time kicking another in the stomach and sent him sprawling. He then spun around and blocked incoming attacks from two more that had circled around him. He took one out with a quick swipe to the leg, and the other with a kick to the chest. He then turned around and hit the first man in the head with the pommel of his sword. Suddenly, Kirito felt a blow hit him in the back and sent him reeling a few steps towards the crowd before he fell to the ground. He quickly turned around to face the last two men, who were both standing with their swords pointed at him. Just as they were about to attack, however, both men tensed up as they were both struck from behind by a green flash of light. As both men fell to the ground, they revealed Asuna, standing with her Rapier drawn, the green light from her sword skill slowly fading.

Kirito got to his feet and smiled at Asuna. "Thanks for the save." Asuna gave him a smug smile in return.

They turned to Kibaou, who was still on the ground where Kirito had thrown him. The Frontliner was looking at them with his mouth hanging open. "Y… You actually beat them."

"A word of advice, Kibaou. Don't walk into a fight if you're not certain you can win." And with that Kirito turned and walked away, Asuna following close behind as the crowd parted to let them through.

"That was good advice you gave him. Maybe you should listen to yourself sometimes." Asuna said as they neared the entrance to the bank.

"That's an odd way of saying thanks."

Asuna just smiled as the duo entered the building.

 _May 8, 2023, Peral, Ninth Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito looked around the inn and saw multiple player parties gathering around at the various tables filled with food and drinks. Everyone was laughing and joking around, eating and drinking. He smiled sadly as he watched the merriment continue on from his little booth in the corner. _A party huh. I bet most of them are members of the same guild._

Kirito sighed as he looked at the time in his menu. 19:38.

 _He's late._

"Yo." A deep voice said from behind him. Kirito turned around to see a large dark skinned man wearing heavy sleeveless armor with a greenish tint to it. On his back hung a large two handed battle axe with a double sided head.

Kirito smiled at the man. "Hey Agil, it's been a while." Agil took a seat across from Kirito. "Yea it has. I haven't seen you since you beat Illfang back on floor one."

"Yeah, well thanks for coming on such short notice."

"It's no problem. So, tell me about this item you're so interested in."

 **So guys, that's all I'm gonna give you for now. Again, I apologize for not being able to upload over the summer, but I plan to go back to uploading like I usually do. But anyways thanks again, and just so you guys know I am currently working on another chapter for the Adventures of Ergon story I've been doing, and I was actually thinking about ending the Fateful Meeting, but I decided to leave that up to you guys so if any of you guys would want that story to continue than please head over there and leave a review telling me to continue it. Anyways guy, like always thanks for reading. Peace!**


	7. Chapter 7: Red Nosed Reindeer

**Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter of Sword Art, and first things first, I'm really, really, really sorry this one took so long. I know that a lot of you guys like this series so I've been trying to work on it, but life be crazy. Anyways, this chapter is a special Christmas chapter based on episode three. For those of you who have seen the anime, I know this chapter follows the anime pretty close, but I promise I did through in a few twists. Any ways guys, I hope you all enjoy!**

 _April 8_ _th_ _, 2023, Seto Forest, Fifteenth Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito sighed from his perch above the ground. "You know, I understand that your trying to kill a rare monster and all, but why am I in a tree?" Kirito looked down at Asuna who was watching the ground from a few branches below him. She glanced up at him with an annoyed expression on her face. "Because if it sees us it would take off running and we would never catch it. It's one of those monsters that will flee from anything, like, for example, TALKING!" and with that she reverted her attention back onto the ground. Kirito sighed once more as he leaned back to rest against the trunk of the tree. _Honestly, did she really need to bring me with her? We're both levelled high enough to survive here on our own_.

Kirito continued to inwardly gripe until suddenly, they heard a loud scream echo through the forest. Kirito was on the ground in an instant, Asuna right behind him as the duo took off through the trees in the direction that the scream had come from. They hurtled through the brush as fast as their virtual bodies would allow them to, until they finally reached the area from which the scream had originated. In front of them stood a group of five players, four boys and a single girl, all surrounded by a group of locust like monsters called Locii. The group seemed to be holding their own, but the monsters were doing far more damage to them than the players were.

"Kirito!" Asuna yelled as she darted toward one of the Locii, stabbing it a dozen times in the blink of an eye. "Right!" Kirito answered as he dashed forward and swung his sword in a large arc, taking out two of the monsters and causing the rest to turn their attention to him. Now that the pressure was off of them, the group of players finally attacked the backs of the insect like mobs, quickly witling their health down until they shattered into nothingness.

Kirito looked around, checking for more of the monsters, before quickly sheathing his sword onto his back. He then turned to the group of players, all of whom were now drinking health potions. "You guys okay?"

One of the players turned to them, a tall boy with brown hair and armor holding a spear. He looked at them with an awed expression. A shorter boy in yellow armor and cloak that matched the tufts of hair poking out from beneath his gray hat walked up to his friend and elbowed him in the side, quickly bringing him out of his trance. "O... Oh yeah! Thanks a bunch for your help!" The boy extended his hand to them. "My name is Keita." Kirito hesitantly took his hand. "I'm Kirito, and this is Asuna." Asuna smiled as she also shook Keita's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Keita looked back at his team members before turning back to the duo. "Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to buy you both a drink as thanks for saving us." Kirito glanced quickly at Asuna as the girl gave him a small smile. "Really, you don't have to do that…" "I insist!" Kirito looked at Asuna one more time before turning back to Keita with a sigh. "Okay, sure." Keita smiled as he clapped Kirito on the shoulder and pulled out a teleport crystal. "Alrighty then. Our main base is in Taft on the eleventh floor." Keita said as everyone else pulled out their own crystals. "Teleport, Taft!"

 _April 8_ _th_ _, 2023, Restaurant, Taft, Eleventh Floor, Aincrad._

"To us, the Moon Lit Black Cats!"

"Cheers!" the group of fighters shouted as they raised their glasses. The group now sat around a circular table covered with food in the bustling eatery know as Restaurant. Kirito and Asuna sat across from the five players, whose names were Keita, Tetsuo, Subaru, Sasamori, and Sachi.

"And to Kirito and Asuna, the two who saved us! Cheers!"

Kirito nervously lifted his glass. "Ch.… Cheers."

Asuna noticed her uncomfortable partner and gave him a sly grin.

Everyone around the table took turns thanking them as Kirito sat there awkwardly. Sachi, the only girl in the group, came up to him. "Th… Thank you. You have no idea how scared I was, so I felt honestly relieved when you came to save us."

Kirito sat there, not knowing what to say. "O…Oh."

Keita sat down next to Kirito. "Um excuse me, Kirito, Sir, but… what level are you guys?"

Kirito stared at Keita for a second, silently, before he looked away and quietly answered. "Um… Level twenty." Asuna froze for a second, her eyes glancing up at his heath bar, which only she could see, and the clear indicator that said that he was level 40. She looked at Kirito, but didn't say anything.

Keita didn't seem to notice her as he went on. "Wow! You're at our level and still only travel as a pair? You guys are amazing sir!"

Kirito flinched internally at the title Keita kept using. "Keita, stop being so formal. Since we travel as a pair, we can't target large groups of mobs and end up hunting lone ones in the boonies. It's not very efficient."

"Oh… I see." Keita glanced back at his guild, who all gave him a slight nod. "Well, I know this isn't the best time, but… would you guys like to join our guild?"

Kirito sat up just a little bit straighter, and Asuna stopped mid-sip. Keita quickly began speaking once he saw their reactions. "Well, you see, Tetsuo is the only one we can use in the vanguard because he's a mace user," A boy in dark purple armor smiled, gently patting the hammer shaped mace at his side. "And then we've got Sachi here," Keita continued, patting the dark haired girl on the head. "I was thinking about having her switch to a sword and shield so she can join Tetsuo. Thing is, she doesn't know what to do."

"Hey, I'm not that bad! You can't just move me to the front and expect me to know what to do, I'd be terrified!"

"Oh come on, all you'd have to do is hide behind your shield!"

"Yea!"

Sachi let out a loud 'Huff", causing the boys gathered around the table to let out a cheery round of laughter. Keita looked at Kirito and smiled, "See, we're able to joke like this because we all know each other in real life and are all members of our schools' computer club. Oh, but you guys don't need to worry about that, as far as we're concerned, you guys are already one of us! Right?" Everyone around the table gave him a small grin.

Kirito turned to Asuna, who had kept quiet the entire time. She gave him a questioning look, as if saying that the decision was up to him, before turning her attention back to the cake she had been eating.

Kirito looked at the group of fighters around them, all with hopeful looks on their faces. Kirito could feel his virtual body letting free a few drops of sweat. "Well… we're really flattered by your offer…" Kirito cast one last glance at Asuna, who continued to watch the exchange silently. Kirito sighed and turned back to Keita. "We'll accept."

The small group of warriors let out a loud cheer as they all rushed forward to clap Kirito and Asuna on the back and welcomed them to the guild.

 _May 9, 2023, Sunlit Forest, Twentieth Floor, Aincrad._

Sasamori let out a loud grunt as he quickly stabbed the giant mantas like monster in front of the group with his spear, effectively taking out another tenth of its health. Once he had finished his attack he swiftly backed away, allowing Sachi, with her newly acquired sword and shield to move up, a scared expression on her face. The insectoid let out a loud hissing roar that caused Sachi to duck behind her shield and whimper. Sasamori reached over her head and stabbed the beast once more doing almost as much damage as he had before. Unfortunately, this didn't stop the monster from attacking, a giant scythe like arm came down and striked against Sachi's shield, throwing out tons of sparks as the metal clashed with the blade like limb. Sachi fell backwards, her health dropping by ten percent.

"Sachi, get back!" Kirito yelled as he began running towards the monster, which had raised its other bladed arm. Just as the monster began to swing its arm, however, Kirito's sword flashed through the air, cleaving the arm in two as the mantas turned its attention on him. Kirito began circling the beast, forcing it to turn its back on his guild mates. As he parried another swing from its last arm, he yelled out, "Tetsuo, switch!" and hurriedly jumped back out of the monsters range. Tetsuo ran up behind the monster, hammer glowing purple as he charged up a sword skill, and then swung the weapon right into the bug like enemy's abdomen, knocking it on its side before it shattered into hundreds of crystal shards.

Everyone cheered as the monster disappeared and a menu appeared in front of Tetsuo, informing him that he had reached level twenty-three. As the other members of the guild ran forward to congratulate him, Kirito felt an elbow hit him in the side and turned to see Asuna, standing there with a questioning look on her face.

"What?"

"You gonna tell me why you let Tetsuo get the kill when you could have easily taken that monster by yourself?"

Kirito thought for a moment, then shrugged. "They need the kills more than we do."

"And how long do you think you can keep hiding our levels from them? And you still haven't even told me why we're hiding them in the first place." Again Kirito shrugged, causing Asuna to glare at him before turning back to their friends, who had begun dividing the drops. "Whatever, as long as you tell me eventually."

"Okay, okay I will."

"Good."

Once they had finished fairly handing out the drops from the monsters they had killed, the group decided to stop for lunch on a nearby hill that was one of the few safe areas outside of the towns. They settled down in a loose circle as Sachi took an old fashion picnic basket out from her inventory and started handing out the food she had made for them earlier. As the group began eating and joking, Kirito quietly broke away and sat on the hill little ways away from everyone else. It wasn't long before someone walked up next to him, and he glance up to see Keita. As the guild leader lay down beside Kirito, he opened his inventory and brought out a newspaper titled _The Weekly Argo_. On the front page, in big bold letters, it said _The Clearing Group Passes The 28_ _th_ _Floor ~ Zero Casualties, Yet Again_. Keita sighed as he stared at the picture of one of the Guilds that helped make up the Clearing Group, the Holy Dragon Alliance.

"So they made it past the twenty-eighth floor, huh? Amazing." Kirito continued to quietly chew on his sandwich.

"Hey, Kirito?" Kirito half turned to the young man beside him. "What do you think's the difference between us and the clearing group?"

Kirito thought for a moment, and then said, "Information, maybe? They monopolize the most efficient training and hunting spots."

Keita sighed as he put down the paper. "That's partly it, I suppose. But I think a major factor is willpower." Kirito looked at the brown haired boy questioningly. "Willpower?"

Keita sat up and stared off at the Sunlit Forest below them, listening to the wind rushing by them and hearing the distant sound of someone training in the Forest. "I guess you could call it determination to protect your friends – Or rather, all the players." He turned and smiled at Kirito. "Right now, even though we're the ones being protected, I'd like to believe that my determination is just as strong. Of course, the safety of my friends is my top priority. However, someday I hope we'll all be able to join the clearing group."

"I see. You have a point" Keita smiled sheepishly. "Well, maybe."

"Yo, leader." Subaru said from his spot behind Keita. Suddenly, he had the guild leader in a headlock. "Nice speech!" Tetsuo, Sachi, Asuna and Sasamori walked up to them. "So," Tetsuo said, "We're gonna be comrades with the Holy Dragon Alliance and Knights of the Blood Oath?" Keita stopped his struggling to look at Tetsuo. "Is that a problem? Let's aim high! First, we'll all reach level thirty."

Kirito smiled as his friends went on joking and laughing. _If the Black Cats improve and make it to the front lines, Keita's ideals could change the serious and cold atmosphere there_. Kirito smiled as he watched Subaru fall backwards, dragging Keita down with him. His smile slowly faded, however, as he stared at his health bar, and the indicator that said 'Lvl 48'. _The front lines, huh._

 _May 10, 2023, Yakamoto Inn, Taft, Eleventh Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito walked into Keita's room to see everyone else was already there sitting on the two beds that occupied a majority of the space. Keita stood against one wall, facing everybody. "Good, now everyone's here." Keita said as Kirito took a seat next to Asuna, who greeted him with a smile.

"Now then, I have some news for you all." Keita began, looking at each of them in turn. "Including the spoils from the last hunt, we now have 200,000 col!" Everyone let out loud gaps of surprise and excitement.

"Wow, suddenly, buying our own house doesn't seem too impossible!"

"I know! How about we get Sachi some new equipment!"

"Yea!"

Sachi looked down shyly. "N-No, I'm good with what I have now."

"Come on! We can't have Kirito being vanguard forever!"

Sachi looked at Kirito, her eyes full of concern. "I'm sorry."

Kirito gave her a small smile. "I don't mind. Don't worry about it."

"Sorry."

Keita looked at Sachi. "Sachi, I know it's hard switching jobs, but you're doing really good. Let's all try our best, okay?" Sachi gave him a small nod. "Yeah."

"Anyways, that was why I called you all here. So, I think we should buy a house!"

 _May 16, 2023, Yakamoto Inn, Taft, Eleventh Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito strapped on his sword, the heavy metal a comforting weight in the dark room. He was the only one in his room as everyone else was matched up with a partner. Once he had finished equipping his gear, he silently opened the door and left. It was late at night and everyone else was already asleep, so he quietly walked down the hall past their rooms and down the stairs to the bar area of the inn. He gave a small nod of greeting to the NPC inn keeper, who nodded back as he continued wiping down one of the tables in the room.

Several minutes later, he was on the twenty-eighth floor walking into a well-hidden hunting spot called the Wolf Plains. As he reached the top of the hill that marked the edge of the hunting grounds, he could make out several figures in the valley below fighting the giant demon wolf mobs that inhabited the area. The monsters were a hellish red, with twin tails and spikes running down their spines. All the men wore what seemed to be red samurai armor and seemed to be fairly high level. Kirito's attention was suddenly captured by a group of three men chasing a wolf. Two of the men were on either side of the wolf, while the third ran ahead of it, katana drawn.

Kirito looked closer at the third figure and instantly recognized him. "Klein."

As he watched, Klein suddenly spun around, causing the wolf to stop and giving his friends time to attack the wolf and draw its attention off of Klein. Now that the monster was no longer focused on him, Klein lowered his katana and activated a sword skill that Kirito recognized. It was Horizontal Slash, the first move he had taught Klein. With his sword now glowing red, Klein dashed forward with amazing speed and left a red line going along the wolfs body before it shattered.

Klein sighed as he sheathed his katana, his eyes drifting towards the hill. The moment he saw Kirito, his eyes widened, as did his smile. "Kirito!" Klein turned back to his guild members. "The rest of them are yours guys." He then proceeded to rush up the hill to where Kirito was standing. "I haven't seen you around lately. And your training this late?" Klein suddenly stopped. "Huh? Hey, that mark…" Klein looked closer at Kirito's health bar. "Did you join a guild?"

Kirito looked away, suddenly reminded of that day long ago when Klein had asked him to form a guild with him. "Yeah, sorta."

"Hey! We're all good to move on!"

Kirito quickly walked past Klein. "See ya."

Klein looked at Kirito's receding form. "Oh come on…" Klein muttered to himself. "Is it still bugging you?"

Several hours later, Kirito walked through the teleport gate into the familiar town of Taft. As he started off in the direction of the inn, a yellow icon appeared before him, alerting him that he had received a message. Opening the message, he saw it was from Keita.

 _This is Keita. Sachi went out and hasn't come back. We're going to look for her in the dungeon area. If you figure anything out, let us know._

Kirito closed the message, his brow furrowed. "Sachi…" Kirito quickly opened his menu and navigated to his tracker skill, activating it. As he selected his target and closed the menu, the whole world seemed to go green, and in the distance he could see faint foot prints. He quickly followed the trail until he arrived at a bridged water way. Turning off his skill, Kirito walked under the bridge. There he found Sachi, knee's hugged to her chest, head down.

"Sachi!"

Sachi looked up. "Kirito."

"Everyone's worried."

Sachi looked down again as Kirito walked forward and sat down a few feet away from her. "Hey, Kirito…" Kirito looked at her.

"Let's run away together."

"Run away? From what?"

"From this town, the monsters, the Black Cats… and Sword Art Online." Kirito sat up straighter. "A-Are you suggesting suicide?!"

"That might be good." Sachi said, her voice dripping with sadness. Kirito gasped, surprised at the normally timid girl. "No, I'm sorry. That's a lie. If I was brave enough to die, I wouldn't be hiding in the safety of the town." Kirito sighed, relieved. "Hey, why can't we leave?" Kirito gave Sachi a questioning look. "Why are our lives at stake when it's only a game? What's the point?"

Kirito looked at Sachi silently, before turning towards the river and answering. "There's probably no meaning to it, I think…"

They sat there silently, not a single noise other than the sound of the water flowing past on its way through the town.

"I'm afraid of dying." Sachi said. Kirito turned to look at her. "You're afraid of dying?"

"I'm so scared. I haven't been able to sleep lately."

Kirito looked at his friend, and knew what she was saying was true. She was always terrified whenever they went hunting. He watched her as she stared at the water, her face masked with all the sadness and fear she had been feeling since the day this game had started.

"You won't die."

Sachi looked up, surprised. "R-Really? How can you be so sure?"

"The Black Cats are strong. We're also taking extra precautions as we go higher up. And, you've got Tetsuo and me, so there's no reason for you to be on vanguard."

Sachi stared at him, her sad expression slowly turning to one of hope. "Will I really survive? Can I go back to the real world someday?"

"Yeah, you'll survive. This game won't be the end of you."

Sachi stared at him silently, tears forming in her eyes, and smiled.

 _May 16, 2023, Yakamoto Inn, Taft, Eleventh Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito sat on his bed, manipulating his menu. He sighed as he looked through the drops he had gathered that night on floor 28. _We really are getting pretty high_. He began absentmindedly scrolling through his items until his eyes landed on a certain one. _I wonder…_

Kirito jumped as he heard a knock on his door. Quickly closing his menu, he turned to the door. "Come in."

The door creaked open to reveal Sachi, standing there in night clothes, a large pillow clutched to her chest and an apologetic smile on her face. "Sorry, I still can't sleep." Kirito stared at her a moment before letting out a sigh. "Okay, fine. You can sleep in here." Sachi smiled at him and made her way over to the bed, gently placing down her pillow and crawling up under the covers. Kirito reached towards the lamp on the small table besides the bed, hitting the holographic button and turning it off before climbing into the other side of the bed, careful to keep space between him and Sachi. For the next hour they lay there, not saying a word, as Kirito's mind raced, remembering their conversation under the bridge. _If you stay in this guild, you'll be safe._ He thought. _You'll definitely be able to go back to the real world one day. I'm sure there are many players like Sachi who fear death. Even so they laugh, cry, and survive in this world to the best of their ability. I've never really thought about it_ … He felt Sachi shifting behind him. "Kirito." She said softly.

Kirito turned around to face her. "It's okay. You're definitely going to survive." Sachi watched his face, searching for any sign that he may have been lying, but saw nothing but belief. She smiled and gave Kirito a small nod before settling down into her pillow and drifting off into sleep.

Kirito watched Sachi for a few moments before turning away and staring at the ceiling _. I'll protect all of you…_ He reached his hand toward the wooden beams above and clenched it. _No matter what._

 _June 12, 2023, Taft, Eleventh Floor, Aincrad._

The Moonlit Black Cats were gathered in front of the teleport gate in the center of town. It was still relatively early, so there weren't many players around and the square was just starting to begin its series of morning noises as the NPC shops opened and more adventurers began to appear. Keita stepped toward the teleport gate, Asuna at his side, before turning back to face his friends. "Well then, we'll be off. Teleport, Town of Beginnings." Both of the players were enveloped in a bright blue light before disappearing.

"I didn't know it would be this exciting buying our own house." Subaru said.

"That's something an old man would say!" Sasamori said, slugging the yellow clad boy in the arm as everyone began laughing.

"Hey, let's go make some cash while Keita and Asuna are buying the house."

Sachi looked at him with an excited face, her hands clasped. "We could buy furniture!"

"Then why don't we go to one of the upper dungeons?" Subaru said.

Kirito stepped forward. "We should stick to our usual hunting grounds."

"It'd be more efficient in an upper dungeon."

"At our levels, we'll be fine!"

Kirito thought for a moment, a doubtful look on his face, before slowly nodding.

 _June 12, 2023, Dungeon, Twenty-Seventh Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito walked beside Sachi, following Tetsuo, Subaru, and Sasamori down the dim hallway. The entire dungeon was a dark maze like expanse of corridors full of monsters and traps. Everything was dimly lit by a bluish glow that seemed to emanate from the walls.

"See? This is no problem for us!"

"Just a bit more and we might make it to the front lines!"

"You said it!

Kirito looked around, growing more and more nervous. He was about to suggest going back when Subaru ran forward towards a wall. He laid his hand on the wall, causing it to glow brighter as a section of it slide upwards, revealing a large square room, bare save for a single chest directly in the center of the room. _A hidden room? Here?_

"A treasure chest!" Subaru shouted as he rushed into the room, quickly followed by Sasamori and Tetsuo. "Wait!" Kirito called, hurrying after them, followed by Sachi. Too late, Subaru knelt in front of the chest, pushing it open with a look of glee on his face. All at once, the soft blue glow vanished, replaced with a strong red light as an alarm like sound filled the room and the door behind them slammed shut. Several secret doors on various sides of the room opened up, releasing dwarf like monsters clothed in baggy garments and carrying large bladed pickaxes. Blue light filled each corner of the room and was soon replaced by large, faceless humanoid beings made of rock.

"It's a trap! Guys, we have to get out of here!" Subaru pulled a blue teleportation crystal out of his quick access pouch. "Teleport, Taft! Teleport, Taft!"

"The crystals aren't working!"

"It's an anti-crystal zone?"

Before they could do anything else, the group of monsters surrounding them surged forward, forcing the players to defend themselves. Subaru, who was still reaching for the dagger hidden under his cloak, was sent flying away from the group by one of the rock creatures. Before he could get himself up, four of the dwarf beasts surrounded him and began mercilessly hammering him with their bladed tools. Subaru screamed in pain as the pickaxes continued to impale him, until he finally shattered, just as the many monsters he had killed before.

Kirito stood, shocked by the death of the energetic boy, before he continued to slice through the monsters surrounding him. He heard a yelp, and turned just in time to see Tetsuo shatter into hundreds of shards, the last of his health taken by one of the rock men. "Tetsuo!" Sasamori cried, pushing away another monster before rushing towards the rock man, the tip of his spear glowing green with a sword skill. "Dammit!" he yelled, thrusting his spear into the chest of the monster, a look of triumph on his face. His look suddenly changed to dread as the rock man, still skewered on the end of his spear, raised its arm, and brought it down into his gut, sending him flying several feet before he also shattered.

Kirito was wide eyed, hacking and slashing through the horde around him taking down monster after monster as he struggled to find a way out. As he slashed through yet another rock man, he spotted Sachi, surrounded by the monsters, desperately pushing them away using a staff she kept on hand in place of her sword and shield. "Sachi!" Kirito yet as he tried to move forward, only to be pushed back by the endless stream of monsters that came from nowhere. "Kirito!" She cried, pushing another rock golem away from her and surging toward him. As she broke away from the monsters Kirito looked to see one of the golems behind her raise its arm. "Sachi!" Kirito called out. Too late, the monster struck Sachi in her exposed back, throwing her forward. Everything seemed to slow around Kirito as he watched, wide eyed, as Sachi began to say something he couldn't make out. And then she shattered.

 _June 12, 2023, Taft, Eleventh Floor, Aincrad._

Kirito fell from the ring of blue light, breathing hard as he tried to calm himself. After he saw Sachi disappear, he had lost control, becoming a murderous being that could not be stopped. He had fought through the army of monsters for twenty minutes before he fell to his knees, all the monsters gone. The room returned to its natural blue color and the door opened behind him. Shakily, he pulled out a teleportation crystal. "Teleport… Taft."

Kirito got up and took a few shaky steps forward, still not believing what had just happened. _Their gone. Their all gone._ He reached a building on the side of the square and leaned heavily against it. Suddenly, a chiming noise caught his attention, and he looked up to see a yellow icon floating in front of him. He reached up and tapped the notification, opening the message Keita had sent him.

 _Hey! Me and Asuna finished buying the house! We'll meet you guys at the Rim of Taft! And why can't I message the others?_

Kirito stared at the message, running it through his head. _Keita. I have to tell Keita._ He pushed himself off the wall and began stumbling down the alley way, heading toward the northern edge of town, which run right up to the edge of floor eleven. It felt like an eternity, but eventually Kirito was able to stand up straight and walk without trouble, marching out onto the paved walkway surrounding the city, popularly called 'The Rim' as it ran along the northern rim of Taft. He walked along the path, looking for his friends, until he finally spotted them leaning against the waist high wall that separated the walkway from the endless sky below the floating castle. Kirito stopped when he saw them, not knowing what to do now that he was here. Asuna glanced over at him, said something to Keita, and they both made their way over to where he stood. Kirito heard a small jingling sound and looked down to see a ring of keys in Keita's hand.

"Kirito!" Keita said, a large smile covering his face. "Where are the others? They haven't been answering my messages." Keita looked around, trying to spot his other companions. Asuna looked at Kirito, her brow furrowing. "Kirito, what's wrong?" Keita turned back to Kirito, finally noticing his dark look.

"… Keita… Asuna… Everyone… They're…" Kirito struggled to find the words. "… They're dead."

Keita froze, a look of disbelief on his face. "W-What?"

Kirito looked at the ground. "When you guys left, we all decided to go to a higher level dungeon to earn some extra Col. At first it went fine, but then we found a hidden room. They rushed in before I could stop them. It was a trap, and we couldn't use crystals. They were killed, all of them. I… I'm sorry." Kirito continued to look at the ground, tears forming in his eyes as he remembered watching his friends die before him. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and looked up to see Asuna, on the edge of tears. "Kirito…"

Kirito looked back to Keita, who stood before them unmoving, a shocked look on his face. "There's one other thing I want to tell you." Keita said nothing, so Kirito continued. "Me and Asuna… we're level fifty." Keita finally moved, jerking his head up, his expression full of surprise. Asuna shot Kirito a worried glance, but stayed silent. "When we met we were both around level forty. And the reason we only travel together is… we're Beaters."

Keita stood there, frozen again, just staring at his last two friends as he processed what he had just been told. His face slowly began to develop a hopeless look as he realized what Kirito was saying. "You… Your beaters? Why…Why didn't you tell us!?" Kieta's face suddenly changed from a look of despair to an expression of pure rage. "You've both been lying to us from day one!"

Asuna stood up. "Keita, that's not…"

"We trusted you both! We thought of you as friends!"

"Keita…" Asuna's voice shook.

"They're all dead because of you! A Beater like you… didn't have the right to be with us!" Keita fury slowly began to fade away, only leaving his shock and despair. Without saying another word, he calmly walked to the wall along the edge of the path and hoisted himself on top.

Kirito's eyes went wide as he dashed toward his friend. "Keita, no!" He reached his hand out, trying to stop his friend. And then he was gone. Kirito watched as Keita fell, mile after mile, into the endless void below the floating castle of Aincrad, until he shattered into millions of fragments as he collided with the world border.

 _December 24_ _th_ _, 2023, Mujen, Forty-Ninth Floor, Aincrad_.

Kirito walked through the center of the Forty-Ninth floors largest town, Mujen. The usually peaceful town was suddenly overflowing with players from all over Aincrad, despite the town being so close to the frontlines. The entire town was done up with green and red, lights hung everywhere, and in the very center stood a single tree, its conical shape easily reaching fifty meters tall as a light snow fell around the town, truly making it feel as if it was Christmas time. People stood in large groups all over the square, most dressed up in heavy cloaks and hoods, talking to one another, exchanging gifts to each other, and shopping at the various stalls and shops around the square.

Kirito continued walking, weaving his way through the bustling crowd as he made his way to the center of the square. Asuna walked beside him, her usual outfit covered up by a heavy red cloak with a hood that actually looked really good on her. Kirito was wearing pure black clothing with midnight blue outlines underneath a long black winter trench coat with a hood. Across his back hung a large one-handed sword that matched his outfit. Asuna ran ahead and peered into a display filled with all sorts of different rapiers. Kirito swiftly swiped his menu open and checked the time.

"Hey, Asuna, I have to go meet a friend. I'll meet up with you later."

Asuna looked up at him, a surprised look on her face. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Kirito rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… It was kinda sudden." Asuna gave him a hard look before her expression finally softened. "Fine. I'll meet you back here in an hour, got it?"

"Yeah."

And with that Kirito walked away as Asuna went back to investigating every sword in the display. Kirito walked around the plaza until he came to a small bench in front of a small alleyway. As he sat down, he continued watching the passing groups of friends and couples walking around enjoying themselves. After about three minutes, he felt a small hand poke him in the back of his head. Turning his head just a bit, he was greeted with the sight of Argo the Rat. She now wore a thin full body cloak over her light brown armor. The hood of her cloak, which sported a design that reminded Kirito of rat ears, didn't cover her face as much as the last one, but her eyes were still hidden by long tufts of green hair.

"So, I hear you've been training pretty hard lately." Kirito continued to look ahead, a bored expression on his face.

"Do you have any new information?"

Argo sighed. Kirito had become very distant and grumpy lately. "Nothing worth charging for."

"Some information broker you are."

Argo felt her face go red with rage. "Hey! This is a brand new event that wasn't in the beta! There's not even a credible source of information!"

Kirito didn't respond as he continued sitting there, an emotionless mask with a body. Argo sighed. "On Christmas Eve, which is at midnight, an event boss will spawn named Nicholas the Renegade."

"Where?"

"All I know is that he spawns beneath a certain fir tree. Every big guild is in a frenzy right now searching for it."

To Argo's surprise, Kirito got up. "You know where it is, dont'cha?"

"Maybe." Kirito said as he began walking away.

"Wait!" Argo dashed forward. "You're not going to try to solo it are you." Her hair had parted, revealing her mud brown eyes above the whiskers she had gotten while trying to complete a quest.

Without answering, Kirito continued to walk away into the bustling crowd. Argo stared at the place where he had been. "What the hell happened to you, Ki?"

 _December 24, 2023, The Angry Boar Inn, Mujen, Forty-Ninth Floor, Aincrad_

Kirito sat on his bed in the dark room where he and Asuna were staying while they were visiting the city. He was cycling through and sorting his inventory. He began setting up his inventory for what might become his biggest fight yet in the game, all the while lost in his thoughts.

 _In this world, resurrection is impossible_. He clicked some items in his inventory and his gloves changed from the frail, thin ones he was wearing to thick, padded ones made for battle. _But Nicholas the Renegade is said to drop an item that can defy this rule_. He clicked another item, and this time his thick cloak swapped with an equally thick coat that closely resembled his original coat from the first floor, the Coat of Midnight _. I'll face it alone, and I'll probably die_. He drew the sword on his back and hit another button, causing it to disappear and be replaced with another sword, this one was smaller and had a longer cross guard with a blue and silver pattern _. He stared at his reflection in the blade. In a place where no one can see me, I'll die meaninglessly_. He shut his eyes. _A Beater like you… didn't have the right to be with us!_ Keita's words echoed in his mind, refusing to leave him alone. _That's right, my arrogance killed you all. If only I hadn't kept it a secret_. Shaking off the painful memories, Kirito stood, sheathed his blade, and left the room.

 _December 24, 2023, Forest of Wandering, Thirty-Fifth Floor, Aincrad_.

Kirito ran through the snow cloaked forest, armored boots digging into the soft fresh fallen snow as he propelled himself forward, mind once again racing. _If I manage to defeat Nicholas_ , he came to a halt and pulled a map out of his pocket _. Then Sachi will be revived, and I'll be able to hear her last words_. Kirito raised his head to look at the looming shape ahead of him. It was a tree of impossible proportions, easily reaching at least a hundred fifty meters high. _And if it turns out she was cursing me, so be it._

Kirito once again broke out into a run again until he passed through an invisible barrier that marked the beginning of the mini dungeon for the area, which had been cleared so many times that monsters no longer spawned there. He continued running through the lanes made by the trees surrounding him, always heading toward the massive tree in the center. As he passed through a clearing, he noticed a ripple in the air not too far away and slid to a stop. As he watched a group of six men with red armor and weapons appeared from the other side of the invisible barrier. Kirito instantly recognized the group of men, all sporting the same diamond shaped insignia on their armor.

"Sup." Klein said as the rest of the Furenkazan guild appeared behind their leader.

"You followed me?"

"Pretty much. Are you after the resurrection item?"

"Yeah."

Klein frowned. "Don't waste your life for a rumor that might turn out to be a sham. This survival game isn't a joke. The moment your HP hits zero, your brain in the real world— "

"Shut up."

Klein looked surprised. He had never seen Kirito so hostile. "Trying to solo it is crazy! Come on, fight with us! Whoever gets the resurrection item gets it, no hard feelings! That's fair right."

"But then… there'd be no point." Kirito said, hand moving to the sword on his back. "I have to do it alone."

The members of the Furenkazan guild reached for their swords. Klein held up his hand to calm his friends down. "Listen… I can't let you die here, Kirito!"

Kirito suddenly tensed up and drew his sword. Before anyone could react, blue light filled the clearing as a dozen men in heavy silver armor appeared behind the Furenkazan. Klein and his men swiftly turned and backed up to where Kirito stood.

"Looks like you were followed too, Klein."

"Yea, looks like it."

"The Holy Dragon Alliance." One of the guild members said, leveling his spear.

"They'll do anything for a rare item." Another member said, raising his long dagger.

"What should we do?"

Kirito began to sweat. "I…"

"Goddammit!" Klein said drawing his katana. "Go on, Kirito!"

"Klein…"

"Go! We can hold these guys off!"

Kirito hesitated before he sheathed his sword and ran off towards the tree. Klein and his friends tensed up as the Holy Dragon Alliance drew their weapons. _Good luck_.

Kirito ran through another invisible barrier and found himself in a large clearing, at the center of which stood the tree that actually took up about half of the room with its incredible width. Kirito looked up and watched as the branches swayed in the snow filled wind, giving off a gentle blue light, giving the entire area a beautiful aura as the snow continued to fall. As he watched the tree, the air was suddenly filled with the sound of a mighty bell tolling. As the bells rang, Kirito heard a sound reverberate through the air, sounding like many tiny bells clashing together. As he watched, two bright lights appeared in the sky and began moving towards the tree, leaving a trail almost like tracks in the snow. Kirito's eyes went wide as he watched a dark shape leap away from the lights, which disappeared a moment later. The dark shape landed in front of Kirito, throwing up a wall of snow and ice. Once the frozen elements had settled down, they revealed what was possibly the most hideous creature he had ever seen.

It was humanoid and stood at least ten meters high. It was clad in a thick red cloak that hid its entire twisted body save the head. From his face hung a long blonde beard that almost reached the ground and was almost shaped like a cross. On his head he wore a red pointed cap that had seen better days. But the most unnerving thing about it was its eyes. Twin balls of fury, glowing red and actually pointing in two different directions. The eyes of a killer.

As Kirito continued to watch, four health bars appeared, along with a red curser that floated just above the creature's head. Nicholas the Renegade.

Kirito drew his sword as the boss threw its hands in the air, two axes appearing in his hands. Kirito ran forward, a vicious battle cry bursting from his mouth as he engaged the monster.

 _December 25, 2023, Forest of Wandering, Thirty-Fifth Floor, Aincrad_

Klein sat on the ground, his katana shoved into the snow beside him. The Holy Dragon Alliance was nowhere to be seen, having been chased off by the small but powerful guild. His friends all sat back to back, panting after the hard fight. Suddenly, Klein heard a hissing sound and looked up to see the air ripple as Kirito walked into the clearing. He didn't seem to be injured, but on his face he had a frightening expression, almost depressed. In his hand he held a single blue orb wrapped in gold ornaments.

"Kirito!" Klein shouted before he noticed his look. Kirito stopped in front of Klein, and without a word, tossed the orb to Klein.

"H… Hey!"

"That's the resurrection item." Kirito said, his voice devoid of all emotion.

Klein looked at the small item for a moment before quickly opening its information panel. "Let's see…"

Klein began to read the description, all the while mumbling to himself. "The target player…" Klein stopped and stared at the next few words. "Within ten seconds?!" He looked up at Kirito, whose expression had yet to change.

"You can do what you want with it." Kirito said before he began walking away. He was about halfway across the glade when he felt Klein grab his coat, causing him to stop. "Kirito…" Kirito looked back at the red samurai, who now had tears in his eyes. "You… You have to survive! Survive until the end! Please…" Klein slowly let go of Kirito's coat, his arm falling to his side. Kirito stood there for a moment before he continued to walk away, leaving the Furenkazan behind.

 _December 25, 2023, The Angry Boar Inn, Mujen, Forty-Ninth Floor, Aincrad_

Kirito into the room where he and Asuna were staying in. The room was dark, with only a tiny bit of illumination coming through the window. Before Kirito could move any farther into the room, he heard a thud, followed by several footsteps and a loud crack as he felt a hand slam into his cheek with enough force to send him to the ground. He looked up to see Asuna standing there, her armor still equipped, a furious expression on her face.

"You idiot! What were you thinking? Klein told me everything! Why the hell would you do that?" Asuna shouted at him, not giving him time to answer her questions. Kirito stood up, face still emotionless despite the surprise he felt from her slap. He silently walked past her and sat down at the desk near the window, the pale moon light illuminating his dark expression. Asuna watched him and finally took note of his face, her expression softening from its original fury to a look of worry.

"Kirito?" Asuna took a tentative step towards him. "Kirito, what happened?"

Kirito turned his head towards Asuna and opened his mouth to answer, but was stopped by a small pinging sound as a yellow icon appeared in front of him. He clicked the symbol, which expanded into a pair of white boxes. The first read 'Gift Box', and the second one…

Kirito froze his eyes unblinking as he stared at the second box. "S… Sachi…" Asuna's eyes went wide, and she shook a little bit as she watched Kirito hesitantly tap the boxes. When he did, both boxes disappeared, and were quickly replaced with a diamond shaped box that floated above his hand. It was completely gray, save for a small button near the top, and seemed to be made of some sort of metal they had never seen before. Kirito looked at Asuna, whose eyes had yet to shrink, hands covering her mouth. Kirito looked back at the object in his hand, slowly pressed the button. The surface suddenly lost its gray texture and took on a transparent blue tint as the inside of the prism filled with several dots of bright light. It was then that the message began to play.

"Merry Christmas, Kirito, Asuna." Sachi's voice rang out clearly from the small device, causing Asuna to fall to her knees, tears in her eyes. "By the time you hear this, I'll probably be dead. How should I put it?" Kirito's eyes widened as the recording continued. "Well, the truth is, I never wanted to leave the Town of Beginnings. And I knew if I tried to fight with thoughts like that, that one day I would die. That's my fault, not yours." Kirito could hear Asuna's light sobs from behind him, but continued to focus on the message. "Kirito, ever since that night, you continued to assure me that I would survive this game. So if I died, you would put all the blame on yourself. That's why I decided to leave this recording behind." Kirito lowered his head, eyes brimming with tears of his own. That is exactly what he had done, that was the same reason he had chosen to fight Nicholas alone. Not for Sachi, who he had known was dead, but for himself and his guilty conscience.

"Asuna, I want to thank you too. All the nights in our room were you would talk about the great adventures you've had so far in this world with Kirito, they really inspired me to continue fighting on with everyone." Kirito looked back at Asuna, who was still on her knees, face buried in her hands as muffled sobs floated out from under her hands. "You were so strong and brave, I really looked up to you. You seemed like an amazing person and I was happy to get to know you. Oh, by the way, I know how powerful you guys really are! I kinda peeked at your menus while you weren't looking. I never did figure out why you were hiding your levels, or why you guys would join up with players as weak as us." Kirito tensed in surprise. "But you know, when I found out just how powerful you were, I was glad. It gave me a nice feeling of relief." Kirito slowly relaxed as he continued listening. "So, even if I die, I want you both to work hard to survive. Live to see the end of this world, figure out why it was created, and the reason why someone as weak as me ended up here and met both of you. That is my last wish."

"Well, it looks like I still have some time left. Since it's Christmas, why don't I sing a song?" Sachi then began to hum to a tune that Kirito recognized from his childhood. It was the tune of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. As the humming continued, Kirito could feel the tears flowing down his face as they began to pool on the desk below. Behind him Asuna had gone quite, not making a sound as Sachi's song came to an end.

"Well, I guess that's everything. Thank you both for being with me and encouraging me. I don't regret any of it." As Sachi said her last lines, Kirito thought back to the day she had died. At the time he was unable to make out what she was saying. Now, he finally realized what it was.

"Thank you. Goodbye."

 **Well guys, I'm just gonna say this now. I cried three time while writing this. Yes, I'm a big baby when it comes to emotional anime. I still haven't finished Your Lie In April. But enough of that! First off, thank you all so much for reading my story, I hope everyone enjoyed it. If you guys want another chapter soon then please show just how much you enjoyed it with a follow, favorite, or a review telling me what you thought. If anyone has any ideas for something they would like to see in the story, then please PM me, and I promise that I will answer all PM's. Anyways guys, thanks again for reading. Peace!**


	8. ANNOUNCMENT

**Hey guys, Gamer here to give you guys some updates on what I'm doing currently. Firstly, I just want you guys to know that, after reading my last chapter, I've decided to rewrite it and fix a huge problem I didn't originally notice, so expect to see that getting updated in the future.**

 **Also, I just wanna let you guys know that I'm gonna be halting progress on Sword Art for a while. The reason being that I accepted a challenge while reading through some fanfic's. I haven't started it just yet but it's gonna be a RWBY/Pokemon cross over challenge. If you guys want the specifics I have the challenge saved in my favorite stories so you guys can check it out and maybe do it yourselves if you wanna, its the one titled The Ancient Nightmare of Remnant Challenge . I also decided to write up a little bit of the prologue to the story, so if you guys feel like giving it a read, I'll leave it at the bottom.**

 **Any ways guys, I wanna thank you all for all the support and criticism, it really means a lot to me. If you have any story advice or ideas, please let me know, because I write these stories for you guys. I already have an idea for a new Pokemon story I came up with, so I'm really excited to see how that starts out when I get it ready. Alright, I think I've rambled enough for today, so, see you guys. Peace!**

It was late, the towering plants of the forest casting long shadows in the growing dusk. The area was silent, with only the wind to disturb the vibrantly green leaves on the trees above and the occasional splash from a nearby stream. The shadows continued to grow, slowly becoming darker. One shadow in particular seemed to be darker than the rest as it splayed across the ground, standing just above the shadow of the tallest tree in the grove.

The owner of the shadow glanced down at the forest floor, scanning for any immediate threats. The creature stood atop the highest branch on long, pointed legs. The creatures body was covered in what appeared to be fur that seemed to be a dark, moldy grey and was shaped to look like a short dress, and a ring of red around the base of its neck. From the beings' shoulder sprouted long strands of fur that waved in the wind, and on the top of its head sprung a long tuft of white fur that seemed to imitate fog as it fluttered behind it, and swept down to cover one of the creatures bright blue eyes that darted from shadow to shadow. The creature almost looked like some sort of monster parents would tell their children about to get them to sleep.

As the shadowy creature watched the surrounding area, he saw a flash of light, followed by an object flying through the spot where it had stood a second before. "Tsk." The young woman who had been hiding in the brush below slowly rose, resting her personal weapon, a long silver compound bow, on her shoulder. She looked around, trying to see where her target had disappeared to, but unable to spot it in the surrounding darkness. Suddenly, without any warning, she spun around, just able to fire off one arrow before she was struck by a blast of foul wind that made her head spin. The Huntress collided with a tree in her fall back to the ground causing her to slump to her knees. As her vision began to fade, she watched as her prey darted away, out of her reach once again.

 **Thanks for reading this guys! If you guys want to see the rest, I plan to upload the first chapter in the following week or two. Any ways, as always, you guys are awesome, see you later. Peace!**


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